NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It seems as though every other day there's a new twist in the presidential election.
If you're not keeping close tabs on what's happening, you can easily be tricked by sophisticated AI technology capable of producing a false narrative.
Regarding AI, Steve Nordstrom, the associate dean at Lipscomb University's School of Computing, says it's now easier than ever to create misinformation.
And this close to a presidential election, duping voters could be damaging to a campaign.
"Deepfakes are used in political campaigns sometimes to throw shade on an opponent, sometimes to make your opponent look confused or excited or generally in a bad light," said Steve Nordstrom. "Deepfakes are used in internet memes and things where you can get something to trend on social media at a much greater rate because of the absurdity of it."
Nordstrom says creators are using powerful computers to create fake video and audio files of politicians, celebrities, and athletes. While it takes dozens of hours to create convincing content, most of this was impossible a few years ago.
"Things that were only mildly possible five to six years ago are now possible in hardware that's available for the general consumer," explained Nordstrom.
We made a list of three questions you can ask yourself to help you determine if something is or isn't a deepfake.
Nordstrom says there are also some dead giveaways that something is generative AI.
"If there are lines or jagged edges around the mouth or face — particularly the borderline between someone's face and their hair," he said.
Looking and listening closely should prevent you from being duped.
"If the candidate is saying something really polarizing or out of character, that's really a good cause for skepticism to be a little bit cautious to believe that that is happening," he said.
There are some tools helping to keep things safe and ethical. There's been an increase in community-based controls on social media platforms such as X that let people flag suspicious content.
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-Carrie Sharp
