Deepfake Kari Lake Video Warns of Deepfake Videos in this Election Season

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Deepfake Kari Lake video shows coming chaos of AI in elections​

in Arizona, a key swing state in the 2024 contest, the top elections official used deepfakes of himself in a training exercise to prepare staff for the onslaught of falsehoods to come. The exercise inspired Stephenson and his colleagues at the Arizona Agenda, whose daily newsletter seeks to explain complex political stories to an audience of some 10,000 subscribers.

They brainstormed ideas for about a week and enlisted the help of a tech-savvy friend. On Friday, Stephenson published the piece, which included three deepfake clips of Lake.

It begins with a ploy, telling readers that Lake — a hard-right candidate whom the Arizona Agenda has pilloried in the past — had decided to record a testimonial about how much she enjoys the outlet. But the video quickly pivots to the giveaway punchline.

“Subscribe to the Arizona Agenda for hard-hitting real news,” the fake Lake says to the camera, before adding: “And a preview of the terrifying artificial intelligence coming your way in the next election, like this video, which is an AI deepfake the Arizona Agenda made to show you just how good this technology is getting.”

By Saturday, the videos had generated tens of thousands of views — and one very unhappy response from the real Lake, whose campaign attorneys sent the Arizona Agenda a cease-and-desist letter.