Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign released a deceptive web video on June 5, 2023, featuring AI-generated fake images of Donald Trump hugging Anthony Fauci to mislead voters about their relationship.
On June 5, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign released a 44-second web video through the 'DeSantis War Room' Twitter account that featured six images of Trump and Fauci together. Three of the images were authentic photos from March 2020, but three others showing Trump hugging and kissing Fauci's cheek were AI-generated fakes. The fake images contained telltale signs of AI generation including gibberish text on White House signage, unnatural hand positions, inconsistent textures, and anatomical irregularities. Media forensics experts from UC Berkeley, Drexel University, and University of Buffalo confirmed the images were AI-generated. The video overlaid the words 'REAL LIFE TRUMP' to suggest authenticity and was designed to damage Trump politically by associating him with the controversial Fauci figure among conservative voters. Twitter added a Community Note identifying the fake images, and Senator J.D. Vance criticized the campaign's use of AI-generated content. This incident represents the first major presidential campaign to use AI-generated imagery in an obviously misleading fashion for political attack purposes. The DeSantis campaign defended their actions and dismissed criticism rather than apologizing for the deception.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed