Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is setting the record straight on misinformation that's been posted on social media about the upcoming Presidential Election.
After President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, there were questions circulating on social media about the deadline for major political parties to submit candidate information for the November 5 General Election Ballot.
"Well, could a new nominee for the Democratic Party get on the ballot in time? The answer in Minnesota is absolutely yes," says Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon.
He says he the misinformation was generated by an artificial intelligence platform on X called Grok.
"So it's an alarming thing that a place like that is allowing false information a about our elections to persist," Simon told WCCO.
X, formerly known as Twitter, needs to do a better job of monitoring data, as do we, according to the secretary of state who says there are major concerns about other false data getting circulated which could even keep people from being able to cast their vote.
"Self policing, in terms of making sure that false information doesn't get out there about what the rules are," said Simon. "And this is an example of purely, totally, objectively, false information about what the rules are."
There are concerns across the U.S. of course, but also globally, with India being a target during Elections in May and now France concerned about Russian interference in their elections.
Experts warn AI deepfakes will aim to mislead voters and undermine elections around the world
Here’s how governments and organizations are responding to the threat:
- In the U.S., the FCC outlawed robocalls containing AI-generated voices, which have been used to discourage voters.
- Major tech companies have signed an accord to prevent AI from being used to disrupt democratic elections worldwide.
- And a Davos report found AI-powered misinformation is the world’s biggest short-term threat.