Elon Musk shared an artificial intelligence-generated video of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris making some ridiculous comments that went viral over the weekend. The film sparked a discussion about the role fake images play in persuading potential voters. While it’s unlikely many people think this new video of Harris is authentic, it’s just the latest example of Musk trying to elect Donald Trump with his thumb.
Trump supporters have been on the defensive since Biden stepped down and endorsed Harris, who is currently surging in polls across the country. For months, Trump seemed unstoppable, but the atmosphere has changed so much that ordinary people just pointed out that people like vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance are inherently weird. Republicans are absolutely terrified, to put it mildly.
But now Musk and his fellow weirdos are fighting back, making every effort to paint Harris as a bad guy or irrational, including a video of the artificial intelligence the billionaire shared on Friday with the caption, “This is awesome.”
The video begins with the fake Harris mispronounced her own name, a common mistake artificial intelligence typically makes, although it may not always send a strong signal to Trump supporters that it’s not true. Trump himself frequently mispronounces her name, recently admitting at a rally that he knew the correct pronunciation but didn’t use it.
From there, the video is just a litany of racist comments and ridiculous misinformation.
“I was chosen because I’m the ultimate diverse employee. I’m both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything, I’m going to say you’re both sexist and racist,” Fake Harris says in the video said.
Musk, who has a history of extremely racist comments, clearly knows a thing or two about racism.
This is amazing😂
pic.twitter.com/KpnBKGUUwn— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2024
Musk was clearly just sharing the footage to help elect fascists, but some Democrats are setting their sights on the wrong target by overreacting and threatening to ban politically themed AI videos entirely. California Gov. Gavin Newsom went furthest when he said he would introduce legislation in the coming weeks.
“Manipulating sound in ‘ads’ like this should be illegal. I will be signing a bill in a few weeks to ensure this,” Newsom wrote on Twitter.
Musk fired back in his typically awkward fashion.
“I consulted world-renowned authority Professor Sargon Diznuts and he said imitation is legal in the United States,” Musk responded on Twitter.
As scary as Musk is, he’s right in this very specific case. Even Musk fans, some of the dumbest and most gullible out there, can’t believe that the footage shows what Harris actually said. There needs to be room in a free society for people to create parodies of elected officials.
In other words, the use of artificial intelligence in various fields, including political information, also requires guardrails. We cannot allow AI technology to be used to actively prevent people from exercising their rights. In one recent example, someone on the Dean Phillips campaign produced an AI-generated recording of Biden that was sent via robocalls in New Hampshire during the primary. Fake Biden telling people not to vote because it’s not necessary is clearly not allowed.
Musk has tried to push far-right candidates into office in recent years and has even become a loyal supporter of Trump after mocking him in the past. But Musk is not a principled man who looks beyond his own interests and believes Trump can deliver tangible economic benefits as well as the racist policies Musk wants to see enforced on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Musk shared an incredibly racist tweet on Monday that would have been shocking in a previous era, but now serves merely as background noise on the Nazi-friendly site formerly known as Twitter. This won’t stop even if Harris wins in November.
The Biden-Harris administration is bringing in large numbers of voters https://t.co/p0OQM0RWpt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2024
Neither Musk nor the Harris campaign immediately responded to requests for comment Monday. Gizmodo will update this article if we hear back.
