The 2024 AI Election: Swift Scandals
The article “Trump falsely implies Taylor Swift endorses him”, written by Rachel
Looker from BBC News published on August 19, 2024 elaborates on how Trump posted
fake images of Taylor Swift approving of his campaign and influencing her fans to
vote for him. On August 18, 2024 at 3:50 P.M. Donald J. Trump posted 4 pictures of
Taylor Swift related campaign ads from Palm Beach, Florida. The first, second, and
fourth photos were images of Taylor Swift fans, also known as Swifties, wearing shirts
that read ‘Swifties For Trump’. The third image was an image of Taylor pointing at the
viewer with an american flag as the background, with text that read ‘Taylor Wants You
To Vote For Donald Trump’. When Trump was asked about this false endorsement on
Fox TV, he denied posting it and said “I don’t know anything about them other than
someone else generated them. I didn’t generate them” (Looker).
This controversy has raised questions across the country as to whether this
was going to be an ‘AI Election’ or not. An AI election is based on whether people know
what’s real and what isn’t. An AI Election would make it easier for politicians to
spread misinformation and target people. It would also make it harder for people to
find out the truth and make their right choice when voting. This issue is particularly
impactful in the United States, where political misinformation can influence public
voter behavior. The use of false endorsement eliminates the integrity of the election
process. It shows the need for fact checking in a generation where propaganda can
spread very far. This example with Donald Trump and Taylor Swift is an example of
how it’s really hard to tell the difference between AI and real humans. Situations like
these could potentially hurt public trust and endanger innocent citizens in our
country.
Works Cited
Looker, Rachel. “Trump Falsely Implies Taylor Swift Endorses Him.” BBC News, 19 Aug. 2024,
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y87l6rx5wo. Date Accessed: August 24, 2024
