MOORHEAD — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has published an op-ed in The New York Times outlining her experience being deepfaked in an AI-generated video and her proposal to protect people against the effects of deepfakes.
Multiple experts say the video serves as a reminder to use extra scrutiny when taking in information online.
The fake Klobuchar video says: “I know most of us are too fat to wear jeans, or too ugly to go outside, but we want representation.”
That was not a real statement from Klobuchar. The video originated on the social media site X in late July. It features vulgar comments in Klobuchar’s voice, giving thoughts on a recent ad campaign for American Eagle.
As of the publishing of this story, the video was still online. It was shown to two university professors who study the effects of artificial intelligence.
“The senator doesn’t talk like that. It would be like if there was a deepfake of Sen. John Hoeven dropping the ‘N-word’ and the ‘C-word.’ Whatever you may think of him politically, he doesn’t say things like that,” said Joseph Kennedy, coordinator of AI initiatives at Concordia College.
Kennedy said the movement of Klobuchar’s lips does not fully match with the words in the video. After reading her op-ed, he said Klobuchar’s biggest issue with these types of videos is that they have the potential to harm reputations if unchecked.
“If we can’t even agree on what facts are, there’s no way we can agree on what the best path forward is or what the best policy is,” Kennedy said.
Jeremy Straub, director of the Department of Computer Science at North Dakota State University, said not all AI is used for nefarious purposes, but it is important to use scrutiny online as AI becomes more prevalent.
“We need to be cautious of it and in terms of information, we need to be thinking about, do we trust the source? In terms of other uses of the technology, is it accurate? Is it performing well? Is it doing what we expect?” Straub said.
For the future, while more legislation on AI is considered, experts said it will be up to individuals to spot bad-faith content in the same way scams are recognized.
“Ultimately, it’s human nature that’s really at fault in how we protect against people who want to take advantage of us,” Kennedy said.
Klobuchar is proposing a bill called the “No Fakes Act,” which has bipartisan support. It would give people the right to demand social media companies remove deepfakes of their voice and likeness, except when the speech is protected by the First Amendment.
Isak Dinesen joined WDAY-TV as a reporter in September 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist at WAOW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin for three years. He graduated from NDSU in 2020, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Sports Communication at MSUM.
