The use of “deepfakes” in New Mexico’s election campaigns is not a problem—yet—but Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has launched an educational campaign to warn voters that they need to develop a healthy skepticism toward what they are seeing and hearing.
Deepfakes are images and sounds generated by machines—artificial intelligence or AI software or hardware. AI has become faster and more sophisticated. It used to take an expert willing to take the time to input a lot of data and to correct and train the computer software until it successfully mimicked the original voice, look, expression and movement of a subject candidate. Now amateurs have flooded the field—the machines got better at learning and applying what they learned using less data and less human interaction.
I took the test on the NMSOS website and my poor score made me realize how hard it is to detect deepfakes: https://www.sos.nm.gov/ai/
NMSOS Communications Director Alex Curtas noted that federal and state laws are weak or nonexistent in blocking fake campaign ads that intentionally misrepresent a candidate.
Last legislative session New Mexico campaign law was amended to require that the use of AI in campaign ads, such as videos, mailers and radio spots, be “disclosed,” Curtas said. The legislature amended the Campaign Reporting Act, 1-19-26, et seq. The ad must state in writing or orally or both that “This ____ has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence.”
If the campaign ad looks suspicious and you want to make an anonymous, informal complaint, submit it to the State Ethics Commission at this webpage address: https://www.sec.nm.gov/ethics-complaint-information-page/file-an-informal-ethics-complaint/
If you want to make a formal report, divulging your name, submit it to the State Ethics Commission following the guidelines found on this webpage: https://www.sec.nm.gov/about-portal/
Curtas said the SOS has turned over such investigations to the State Ethics Commission for the last two years since it has investigators and the SOS does not.