OpenAI Plans To Leash AI To Deter Election Misinformation in 2024

The company will ban people from using its technology to create chatbots that imitate real candidates or governments. The firm will not allow its users to build applications for political campaigning or lobbying until more research is done on the persuasive power of its technology.

The company will also partner with the National Association of Secretaries of State to direct ChatGPT users who ask logistical questions about voting to correct information on that group’s nonpartisan website, CanIVote.org. Mekela Panditharatne, counsel in the democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice stated:

OpenAI’s plans are a positive step toward combating election misinformation, but it will depend on how they are implemented.

It would not be wrong to say that OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E are the most powerful generative AI tools to date. There are several companies with similarly refined technology but they don’t have election misinformation protection in place. OpenAI states that AI tools will enhance factual accuracy, reduce bias, and decline certain requests.  DALL-E, for instance, can decline requests that ask for image generation of real people, including candidates. By the time DALL-E 3 rolls out later this year, the company plans to implement an image encoding approach that will keep details of the content’s birthplace. Moreover, OpenAI is also testing a new tool that will be able to detect whether or not an image was generated by DALL·E.

On the other hand, ChatGPT will provide users with greater levels of transparency by giving access to real-time global news reporting that includes attributions and links. In the same way, social media companies, such as YouTube and Meta, have introduced AI labeling policies. However, it remains to be seen whether they can unfailingly catch violators. So, let’s wait and watch what comes next. Stay tuned!