The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in political campaigns has been a topic of great concern and debate. On WBAP's July 17th, 2023 show, host Rick Roberts and political strategist Raven Harrison discussed the potential implications of AI in the upcoming 2024 election. The conversation shed light on the absence of regulations and the possibility of an AI arms race. Let's dive into the highlights of their discussion and explore the ramifications of this technological advancement.
WBAP July 17th, 2023 with Raven Harrison
During the WBAP show, Rick Roberts engaged in a thought-provoking conversation with political strategist Raven Harrison. They touched upon various aspects of AI in political campaigns and its potential consequences. The discussion highlighted the lack of regulations by the Federal Election Commission for the 2024 election cycle and the decision to table the pursuit of regulations on deepfake political ads. As a result, campaigns are left to navigate the AI landscape on their own.
Transcript
- Rick Roberts: Well, the FEC rules, the 2024 election will not restrict the use of artificial intelligence. So, I guess campaigns are basically on their own. It looks like there won't be any new regulations on the use of artificial intelligence or in the elections from the Federal Election Commission, FEC. For the 2024 election cycle, that's based on the recent vote to, I guess, table the pursuit of regulations on deep, fake political ads.
- Well, I got to stop. I won't say any more there. Some are concerned that the election could become an artificial intelligence arms race. Now, I guess the rationale behind this is the, how do you put this, maybe a proliferation scenario where each party fears the other one having more weapons so it gets more itself. You know, where you draw the line is an important question because, well, we do try to protect free speech unless you're on the left and you try to get rid of anybody that disagrees with you. But around political campaigns, you know, I always advise people, you know, do your homework, do your homework just because something's on television or on the internet especially, doesn't mean it's true. You know, each campaign's going to have to figure it out for itself, I guess.
- Doesn't mean there can be no rules. Instead, it does provide an opportunity for campaigns to, I guess, share some ethical standards, but I'm not holding my breath for that. Okay, that's, this is not without precedent. Some elections have featured campaign pledges where we're going to run a clean campaign, blah, blah, blah. I don't believe that either, by the way, but I'm cynical. Political parties agree or, you know, come to terms on debate formats. I'm sorry, I'm probably too cynical to have an open and fair discussion about this and I'll give that to you right now. But with me is political strategist, former congressional candidate, author of Raven's Mantle, Fighting the Betrayal of America, Raven Harrison, with me on a regular basis. Raven, how we doing today?
- Raven Harrison: We're doing great. How hot is it?
- Rick: Let's see. I'm showing 104 right now.
- Raven: We're at 105.
- Rick: I've just been correct, been corrected by, by, yeah, it's 105. You're right.
- Raven: I usually am.
- Rick: All right. I really don't know how to go into this topic, Raven, because maybe it's from doing this so long. I don't know. I just don't believe it. I don't believe that both campaigns or, you know, left or right, they're going to be totally honest about this. And, you know, what, what are some examples of the AI getting involved in the first place? Well, it's a good question to ask. And this is really a complicated topic and people have a tendency to gloss over it when they don't quite understand it. It's like when you're looking at the, the ingredients and I know this one got me and one of the ingredients I see a lot is L-cystinine. It's in salad dressing and everybody goes, oh, well, hey, I know what a few of these are, milk, blah, blah, blah. And then L-cystinine, L-cystinine is ground up duck feathers or human hair. It's one of those things. True story, that people need to, you need to know what you're ingesting, whether it's your food, your politics, anything else. So the way that I explain this to people is when Joe Biden announced that he was running for reelection, okay, the teleprompter told him he was running for reflection. Right, right. The first, within minutes, there was an AI-generated response from the Republicans and basically this is a computer-generated, it pulls context from speeches, videos, interviews, all across the internet, across multiple platforms. And there was a response by the Republicans to Joe Biden's announcement within minutes. Usually this response time took days, hours, and that's what you're talking about the AI. It also means that rather than going to a place that really specializes in creating political content for one candidate, anybody with no special training, anybody can now be a content creator. So that's really particularly going to be concerning for the independent and swing votes that they're coming, but you don't know where this material is coming from. And then how much of your first amendment is protected by an artificial intelligence source. That's why they don't want to talk about it. This is, they'll be able to, so then layman terms, Rick, they'll be able to criticize you before you even finish your speech.
- Rick: Well, I think that happens every day on this show anyway. You know, I understand the premise of AI. I understand how it works. I understand how it could derail the competition in a contest like an election. I'm just shaking my head looking at this thinking, okay, 2024 was a chance to get back on track. All eyes on the election, stop the federalization of election, you know, bear down on this, get as close as possible. And now it looks like AI is going to basically do away with all that.
- Raven: If we allow that, this is another layer of taking it from we the people. Was it in pirates with the Caribbean and Jack Sparrow said, I trust a dishonest person to be dishonest, honestly? That's where we kind of are. We allow this to go forward because there's no regulation. They're already saying we're not going to prosecute. This is considered protected speech. Well, this makes it a race of politicians who can get the most negative attack as we've seen Zuckerberg put $400 million into swinging an election. So that would put this in the hands of the tech giants, which is exactly what we have been fighting against. So this is more than anything, more proof that we the people need to get to this line. You have got to stop allowing people to spoon feed your content. The convenience fee for eating out all the time, Rick, is poor health. The convenience fee for not paying attention and not getting involved and not pushing back on this is communism.
- Rick: Yep. Absolutely. You know, I'm going to ask you, Raven, to deviate from AI for just a second. Because honestly, I don't know how well that that's playing with the audience. They're distrustful of elections. They've got a bad taste in their mouth from the last one. A lot of people and I'm not being demeaning or ugly. A lot of people don't know how the AI works to the point that they're comfortable drawing out scenarios in their head. But as I look at this, even though he has said he's running, I think he raised what, $72 million, but then again, money raised by a campaign at this juncture could be funneled back into the war chest of the party, political party. I don't think Biden's going to run.
- Raven: Well, I don't think Biden can run. I mean, honestly, he's tripping over air at this point. But I think at the end of the day, what they're trying to do is they're trying to still lock ranks and show unity. I mean, I'm old enough to remember when we voted with paper ballots and we knew who the president was that day. But right now, they've got a real problem because he is falling apart mentally, cognitively, physically in real time. And they are trying to keep the wheels on this bus and it is trying to derail. So this is the opportunity instead of people getting discouraged to realize this is what it means to step up in your role as a patriot and have a role in saving this country. Everybody can see this is wrong, but you have to if they're testing us to see what we will accept. And if we continue to accept this and say, okay, well, it's just a little bit of coke in the White House. It's just a little if we accept this, then they will keep spooning. We're poisoned. So this is where you have to push back and go. Yeah, no, there's no such thing as a little blow in the White House.
- Rick: Yeah, exactly. I just talked to Ronnie Jackson, a member of the US House of Representatives. He is. He was also the former first chief medical advisor to Bush and Trump and in Obama and all the rest. And I just straight up ask him, based on what you've seen, what you've read, the reports you've seen is is this obvious decline in cognitive ability with Biden? Is it that is it indicative of onset, alsheimers or dementia? And he said, yes, absolutely. Yes.
- Raven: And we can all, even without a degree, but respect and trust Dr. Jackson, his good friend of mine and absolutely what we're seeing. But the biggest thing is anybody thinking that voting for him, voting for this, putting that in the White House and allowing us to be this vulnerable, this unsafe, this divided is justified by you disliking somebody because of their tweets. I mean, this is ridiculous. Guys, come on. You know, one in two people has some mental issues. If you're not sure who that is, it's probably you. So we got to be mindful of he should not be in this capacity. Is he running the country now? I mean, this is, these are the questions we should have been able to ask the most prestigious office in the world, the most powerful man in the world. And he can't walk across the stage. So I tell people, this is important. Now we want to hand it over to computers. Now we want to put it, you know, we're not sure if the machines are hooked up to the internet. We can't allow this. And we have been allowing this. Well, darn it, they're cheating. Well, we can't allow that.
- Rick: Yeah, somebody asked me, Rick, can a president be taken out of office for being incompetent? Well, the only tools for getting rid of of a president in the middle of a term are impeachment and the 25th Amendment, neither of which, you know, touches the question of incompetence or policy failure. But we've got to do something. I got to step aside for a second, Raven. I'm going to ask you a question when we come back and, and I'll let you think about it for a second. You know, given what we're dealing with, let's say Biden exits stage left, here comes the Giggle Queen Kamala Harris, which probably has a lower approval rating than Biden at this point. And you look at this and you say to yourself, okay, how do we salvage, not the government, how did the people, how to free Americans salvage what's left or what the left has left us in this last administration, whether we agree or disagree, at least it's a venue where we can get these thoughts out.
- Talking, I have her on quite a bit. She's a regular on the show, Raven Harrison, political strategist, former congressional candidate, author of Raven's mantle, fighting the betrayal of America. Raven, I, you know, I ask a pretty broad question. You know, the last election was an absolute train wreck. We're still, we've still got reverberations from that going on. Now with AI and the 2024 election, not that far away, people are worried about that. What can the American, in your mind, what can the American people do to at least make a difference in some way?
- Raven: And I think that's an excellent question. You alluded before the break to, you know, the situation that we put, it's not an accident, but the cacklings are is next in line for the presidency. That's the way it was designed. It was designed to destabilize us and to put us in a position to leave Biden there because nobody wants Kamala, who is slightly more popular than athletes. So, we got to tell people that this was the design. This was how they were going to take our country apart, which is by putting the two most unpopular people together and saying, here, choose. You want to be shot or stabbed. And what we have to do is we have to engage. People have forgotten this. What we, the people, actually mean. The reason that you're not British right now is because, you know, we had the heart to fight and it comes with being engaged. These were not professional politicians who created these freedoms and wrote the Constitution and the Declaration. These were people who had just had enough and they got together and they did this and they signed their own death warrant by signing that Declaration. They paid with their fortunes and their lives in many cases. Many were executed as traitors and some had their fortunes confiscated. Some had their houses burned to the ground. So, I tell people it starts right now. We got to get rid of your, you got to know who your legislators are. If you don't know who your Congressman or your state reps are, that's part of the problem. You need to get engaged. What are they voting on? When are they up for election again? You know, that's the power of the purse. Truly, they're truly, they're all going to be looking to get reelected again and you have to push back. Roll back these COVID protocols. We're stuffing ballots because we're worried about people getting sick and then we have to, you know, to show up, you know, in one district in Collin County. They had 12% turnout at the Republican primary. That's not going to get it. You got to get off the sofa. You have to, the difference between being a patriot and being patriotic.
- Rick: No doubt. Good advice. Raven, it's always a pleasure. We'll have to see what the next week holds, but I appreciate your input more than I can tell you. Thank you, Raven.
- Raven: Thanks, Rick. Appreciate it.
Artificial Intelligence Arms Race Wrap-up
As the conversation between Rick Roberts and Raven Harrison came to a close, it became evident that the unregulated use of AI in political campaigns poses significant challenges. While there may be an opportunity for campaigns to establish ethical standards, it remains uncertain whether they will seize this chance. The absence of guidelines could lead to a competition fueled by AI, where each party tries to outdo the other, potentially compromising the integrity of elections.
In this era of evolving technology, it is crucial for citizens to remain vigilant and well-informed. Engaging in thorough research, fact-checking, and critical analysis of political content is essential, given the potential for AI-generated misinformation. As voters and members of society, it is our responsibility to actively participate in the political process, hold legislators accountable, and demand transparency in campaign practices. By staying informed and involved, we can help safeguard the integrity of elections and ensure that the influence of AI is regulated appropriately.
In conclusion, the WBAP discussion on July 17th, 2023 shed light on the concerns surrounding an artificial intelligence arms race in political campaigns. The use of AI in elections remains unregulated, leaving campaigns to navigate this technology independently. It is crucial for the public to stay informed, engage in critical thinking, and actively participate in the political process to protect the integrity of our democracy.
