(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch This story was originally published by Iowa Capital Dispatch and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The 2024 election promises dystopia in the age of AI • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1] ['Michael Bugeja', 'Douglas Burns', 'Randy Evans', 'Ed Tibbetts', 'More From Author', 'April'] Date: 2024-04-05 Many Americans are concerned about the upcoming election, anticipating a grim future if their nominee fails to secure the 270 electoral votes to become the 47th president of the United States. Political parties are playing on those fears, using the latest technology. Artificial intelligence has long been associated with doomsday in dystopian novels, including the oppressive dictatorship in “1984” by George Orwell, the socially engineered society in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, and the deep state of “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess. Each of these works has a communication element. “1984” uses simulated scenes of perpetual enemies as well as facial recognition. “Brave New World” warns against technology controlling how people act and think—a prescient vision of brain-computer interface chips. Technology is used in “A Clockwork Orange” to deter recidivism — as we have today, with AI used for parole decisions. These books highlight issues being debated today to uplift or deride Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump. Forbes Magazine reported that both parties are using algorithms to clone faces and voices of candidates in various simulated settings. Here is the transcript of a GOP video warning about a second Biden term. “This just in. We can now call the 2024 presidential race for Joe Biden. This morning an emboldened China invades Taiwan. Financial markets are in free fall as 500 regional banks have shuttered their doors. Border agents were overrun by a surge of 80,000 illegals yesterday evening. Officials closed the city of San Francisco this morning citing the escalating crime and Fentanyl crisis. Who’s in charge here? It feels like the train is coming off the tracks.” ABC News reported how AI is being used to cast Trump as a criminal, pilfering images of his court appearances as the basis for phony scenes, as in this video. The network also reported that other scenes “may have been generated by artificial intelligence, the latest in a series of hyper-realistic fake images deceiving many online and raising concerns over the sophistication and accessibility of AI-powered tools.” Each party is using state-of-the art technology to amplify their message. On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Trump shared such a video on Truth Social, proclaiming himself as God’s chosen emissary on earth. Here’s the transcript: “On June 14th, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, I need a caretaker. So God gave us Trump. God said I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, fix this country, work all day, fight the Marxists, eat supper, then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight at a meeting of the heads of state. So God made Trump. I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle the Deep State and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild, somebody to ruffle the feathers, tame cantankerous World Economic Forum, come home hungry, have to wait until the First Lady is done with lunch with friends, then tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon and mean it. So God gave us Trump.” The Lincoln Project, a pro-democracy organization and frequent Trump critic, responded to the above video with this parody containing AI-generated images. Here’s an excerpt: “God said, ‘I need a corrupt man who is above the law and immune from justice.’ So God made a dictator. God said, ‘I need a man who will use violence to seize power.’ So God made a dictator. God said, ‘I need a man whose followers will call Black white, call evil good and call criminals hostages.’ So God made a dictator. God said, ‘I need his political party to obey without question and the press to fear his wrath.’ So God made a dictator. God said, ‘I need a cruel man who uses his power and position to punish and harm his opposition.’ So God made a dictator. God said, ‘I need a man who breaks the faith of even his most godly followers and leads them to idolatry, placing him above me.’ So God made a dictator.” Dictators figure prominently in dystopia works, beginning with Big Brother in “1984,” whose name became synonymous with surveillance. Mustapha Mond, the antagonist of “Brave New World,” elevates science in a new social order emphasizing conformity. The Minister of the Interior in “A Clockwork Orange” represents the deep state undermining liberty. Which awaits us? I asked one of the country’s foremost AI experts, Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California-Annenberg. “I don’t know that I distinguish between ‘Brave New World’ and ‘1984,’” he said. “The future is going to have elements of that.” America already is experiencing the disinformation of “1984.” And like “Brave New World,” he added, “some people’s agenda is to throw everything into doubt so that you believe nothing.” Cole also referenced Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of “A Clockwork Orange” with the state requiring criminals to ingest the paralytic drug Serum 114, altering the brain at the mere thought of violence. “I don’t see that,” Cole said. These and other dystopia books typically feature one oppressive political system. Our hybrid version augurs a divided society that favors and fears autocracy and science. The epic will be written on Nov. 5. 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