SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — When Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner saw a video apparently showing Gov. Spencer Cox admitting to fraudulently gathering signatures in the gubernatorial race, she was alarmed.
Not because she thought the governor had committed wrongdoing, but because the video was a deepfake, perhaps designed to influence Utah voters. Over the weekend, the local elections officer warned her followers on Twitter/X that the video should serve as a “huge warning” moving forward.
“I’m quite disturbed that this is hitting us locally,” Gardner, a Republican, told NewsNation affiliate ABC4 on Monday. “This is hitting us close to home.”
Deepfakes are videos, images or audio clips that use artificial intelligence to mimic a real person’s likeness, making them say something they’ve never said or appear somewhere they’ve never been.
Recent advances in AI technology have made deepfake creation tools available to anyone with a smartphone. This new reality is a concern to leaders across the world, particularly as many high-stakes elections are slated in the coming months.
The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risks Report ranked misinformation and disinformation ahead of war, economic downturn and inflation in the top 10 concerns over the next two years.
“Misinformation and disinformation may radically disrupt electoral processes in several economies,” the report said, adding that it could trigger civil unrest and even confrontations.
Here in Utah, the deepfake of Cox is a concern, Gardner said, because it could undermine the credibility of local elections.
“What’s unique in this case is that both of those things are merging,” she said. “Not only do we have a deepfake of a candidate, i.e. our governor, but that the deep fake is purporting to prove a conspiracy theory that would undermine the confidence and integrity of the election itself.”
The Twitter/X account that shared the fake video is followed by prominent Utahns, Gardner noted, including the campaign for state Rep. Phil Lyman, who is running against Cox in Tuesday’s primary election.
Natalie Clawson, Lyman’s running mate, also follows that account, and has retweeted some of the posts, although not the deepfake videos, Gardner said. The Salt Lake County GOP Chair Chris Null, also follows the account.
“If those individuals are not doing their due diligence and looking at the sources of these things and retweeting them, there’s a perceived credibility then that …. they shared it, then it must be true,” Gardner said.
How to spot a deepfake?
For AI-generated videos, people can still sense that the images are off or not quite in sync, even despite recent improvements in technology. People can also notice AI signatures in specific details, such as how hands are shaped or the outlines of individual teeth.
“If your instinct tells you to second guess it, then you absolutely need to second guess it,” Gardner advised.
Anya Williams, of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, said that if you see a public figure doing something that seems exaggerated, unrealistic or not in character, it could be a deepfake.
“Always try to find the original source of the material,” she said. “Use a keyword search and do some lateral reading to find out if the video has been altered before you believe what you’re watching.”
False audio statements from prominent politicians are proving particularly difficult for people to identify. A recent study found that in a test of six popular AI voice-cloning tools, humans were fooled about 80% of the time, the Associated Press reported.
“We can no longer believe our eyes, and we can no longer believe our ears,” Gardner said. “We have to be looking at the origins and getting verifiability of anything we hear or see, particularly when it comes to the election.”