Twenty tech companies, including OpenAI, Microsoft, Adobe, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok, have pledged to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) from interfering in elections across the world this year.
The pledge, which is voluntary, includes a promise to create tools to help discern AI-generated images from real ones and be transparent with the public when any notable developments occur.
While Big Tech may have begun to fortify their technology against election meddling, the risks of hateful and violent content, alongside deepfakes, are greater than ever before. This is partly because as these companies pledge to reign in existing technology, they continue to release new products that need even more complex safeguards. Misinformation must be stopped before it impacts voters, and this is only a small first step.
Most Americans probably want to feel safe from the risks of AI, but giving Big Tech, and thus their friends in the Democratic party, the power to oversee election-related information will not ensure freedom or fairness. The companies pledging to safeguard democracy are the same ones that suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story and kicked Conservatives off social media for their political views. They should not be given any further power.