A robocall impersonating President Joe Biden, which advised New Hampshire residents not to vote in the state’s Democratic presidential primary, is believed to be a deepfake created using artificial intelligence (AI), experts say. The New Hampshire attorney general’s office described the call as an “unlawful attempt” to suppress votes. Ben Colman, CEO of Reality Defender, stated, “All signs point to it being a deepfake,” and although certainty is elusive, it’s “highly likely manipulated.”
The audio, first obtained by NBC News, resembles Biden’s voice but with a clipped cadence. Identifying the specific AI program used is challenging, as such technology is increasingly accessible via phone apps and online services. Lindsay Gorman, from the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy, noted unnatural, robotic cadence as a potential indicator of a deepfake. She highlighted the evolving nature of this technology, making detection a constant challenge.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, having introduced AI legislation in the Senate, expressed hope that this incident would raise awareness of AI’s disinformation potential. Mekela Panditharatne, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, pointed out that while the use of deepfake technology in vote suppression is new, using robocalls for this purpose is not. She remarked, “Voice-generation AI potentially makes that method of attempted vote suppression more attractive to fraudsters.”
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