AI-generated images showing Trump with black voters were widely shared on social media as part of apparent efforts to influence African-American voting patterns, with one deepfake image gaining over 1.4 million views on Twitter/X.
Trump supporters have been sharing AI-generated images showing the Republican frontrunner posing with black voters in what appears to be an effort to encourage African-Americans to vote for Trump. The BBC Panorama programme discovered dozens of deepfakes circulating that portray black people supporting the former president, though these have not been directly linked to the Trump campaign. One particular image showing Trump on a veranda with black men appeared real at first glance but investigation revealed distorted hands, a telltale sign of AI generation. This image originated from a satirical social media account using AI technology but was reposted by a Michigan Trump supporter with a false caption claiming Trump stopped his motorcade to take pictures with young men who waved him down. The image gained over 1.4 million views on Twitter/X, with some users believing it was real despite others pointing out obvious AI artifacts. Additional fake images have emerged, including Trump sharing an AI-generated image of himself praying in a church on Truth Social showing six fingers on each hand, and other deepfakes showing Trump with civil rights leader Martin Luther King. These incidents occur as Trump actively campaigns for black voters, a demographic that gave Biden 92% support in 2020.
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