- Added Taylor Swift's statement
- Added Donald Trump's statement
Update September 11, 2024:
Taylor Swift has posted on Instagram announcing her support for US presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The deciding factor was AI-generated images suggesting Swift supported Donald Trump (see report below).
Trump shared these images on his social platform "Truth Social" in late August to show support for his campaign. Swift says this fake content led her to decide she needed to be very transparent about her actual voting plans and political beliefs.
"It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth," Swift writes.
Swift encouraged her followers to register and vote in the elections, linking voter registration information in her Instagram Story.
Update from August 23, 2024:
Donald Trump has commented on the allegedly AI-generated images of Taylor Swift that he shared on his social media platform. In a Fox News interview, Trump said he doesn't know the origin of the images.
"I don't know anything about them other than somebody else generated them. I didn’t generate them," said Trump. He called AI "always very dangerous" and referred to AI imitations and manipulations of himself.
Original article from August 19, 2024:
Donald Trump "AI'd" himself by falling for Taylor Swift AI fake images
Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday posted images on his Truth Social platform falsely suggesting that pop star Taylor Swift and her fans support his 2024 presidential bid.
Most of the images of women wearing "Swifties for Trump" T-shirts were likely created using AI image generators, possibly the recently released Flux, which is available through X without political guardrails. The portrait of the single blonde woman appears to be real, her name is "Jenna," and there's a video of her on X wearing that shirt.
One image shows the text "Taylor wants YOU to VOTE for Donald Trump" next to a fake picture of Swift dressed as Uncle Sam. Another screenshot, clearly labeled as satire, appears to be from a parody website with the headline "Swifties turn to Trump after ISIS foiled Taylor Swift concert". This likely refers to the cancellation of Swift's concerts in Vienna due to a potential terrorist threat.
Trump commented on the images with "I accept!", presumably believing that Swift or Swift fans were endorsing his campaign. Swift has previously criticized Trump and endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 campaign.
Trump embraces AI manipulation tactics
This follows Trump's attempts to accuse opponents of using AI manipulation against his campaign. Recently, Trump falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign used AI-generated crowd photos, saying the images were "AI'd."
He also alleged that video clips showing him making gaffes were manipulated by Democrats using AI. These videos show Trump mispronouncing names, confusing people, and forgetting things.
There's no evidence to support any of these claims. But Trump is using these accusations to undermine trust in audiovisual media, making it easier to spread misinformation by removing all credibility from real media.
Trump himself has been the victim of AI fakes, when fake photo-realistic images of his supposed arrest circulated online.
