What Colorado voters need to know about potential AI-generated misinformation ahead of the November election

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Colorado's attorney general issued a public warning to voters and media consumers about “deepfakes” on Monday, and a University of Colorado professor is speaking to 11 News about the discussion.

According to Colorado state law, deepfakes are “AI-generated images, videos, audio files, or multimedia content that falsely appear to be authentic or truthful and include a depiction of a person appearing to say or do something the person did not say or do.”

Sandra Ristovska, associate professor of media studies at the University of Colorado, says the fundamental concern with deepfakes is manipulation.

“Deepfakes are a real concern for us because we want to live in a world where we can believe the information we consume,” said Ristovska. “We [can be] We may be tricked into thinking we've seen the real thing when in reality we're watching a machine-generated video.”

According to Ristovka, deepfakes have been used in political events recently, including the Indian election and the war between Russia and Ukraine. She says some experts in the field have speculated whether deepfakes would appear in connection with the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

“We have seen [deepfakes] “This has happened recently in election cycles across the European Union, and I think that's why U.S. lawmakers and policymakers are now thinking that maybe this is coming to the U.S. as well, and are warning us about the possibility of manipulated content,” Ristovka said.

Ristovka says media consumers should verify information they see or read about political candidates with multiple legitimate sources to determine whether or not certain content is likely to be a deepfake.

“If a political candidate has said something really outrageous or done something really bad, I bet the traditional news outlets will tell us about it and get to the bottom of the story because they work in the public interest,” Ristovka said. “I would say we must not let fear overwhelm us. We must proceed with caution.”

A new Colorado law that took effect this year requires AI-generated content for political campaigns to include a clear disclaimer.

“The Act's disclosure requirements apply only to political communications containing deepfakes within sixty days of a primary election or within ninety days of a general election. Because the 2024 general election is less than ninety days away, the requirements currently apply until the conclusion of the general election,” the Attorney General's public notice states.

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