AI voice cloning tools imitating political leaders threaten elections – report

AI-powered voice cloning tools can be used to create disinformation using the voices of prominent political figures, an online safety group has warned.

The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) said researchers used six different AI voice cloning tools and attempted to create false statements using the voices of a range of well-known political leaders, with around 80% of their attempts producing what they called a convincing piece of content.

The CCDH said all but one of the tools it tested claim to have built-in safeguards to prevent misuse for the production of disinformation, but that its report found these measures to be “ineffective” and easy to circumnavigate.

The online safety organisation said its testing included using the voices of both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, and said AI and social media companies needed to do more to protect the integrity of the upcoming General Election from such content.

The group said its researchers were also able to create audio-based disinformation of other global figures including former US president Donald Trump, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The examples included various political figures warning people not to vote because of bomb threats, declaring election results had been manipulated and “confessing” to the misuse of campaign funds.

The organisation said AI companies need to introduce specific safeguards to prevent users from generating and sharing false or misleading content about geopolitical events and elections, backed up by more work from social media firms to detect and stop such content from spreading.

The CCDH said existing election laws should be updated to take into account AI-generated content.