Trump supporters target black voters with faked AI images

04 March 2024 , 22:33

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AI-generated images of Donald Trump with groups of black people are being shared by his supporters, an investigation has found (Image: AI Generated)

Dozens of fake AI images of Donald Trump smiling with Black people are being spread online by his supporters.

BBC Panora reported several images of the former President alongside alleged black voters appear to have been created using AI. There is no evidence to link them to the 77-year-old's campaign. Many of the shots are group based and appear real to the casual eye.

Florida-based conservative radio host Mark Kaye created an AI image himself. He told the BBC: “I’m not out there taking pictures of what’s really happening. I’m a storyteller. I’m not claiming it is accurate. I’m not saying, ‘Hey, look, Donald Trump was at this party with all of these African American voters. Look how much they love him.’”

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One of the fake photos included Trump with a group of men on the porch (AI Generated)

The rise of AI and fake images and videos has already caused problems for this year's election campaign - which is set to conclude with a general election in November - with a fake call scam pretending to mimic President Joe Biden urging voters not to vote in the New Hampshire primaries.

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One of the latest AI images of Trump and Black group involves the Republican posing on a porch with a group of black men. The image is captioned with claims that Trump "stopped his motorcade to pose". The BBC noted that some commenters online pointed out that the photos were fake, but many others were convinced they were real, the Guardian reports.

One taxi driver from Atlanta, named Douglas, was duped by the fake image and said it had a positive impact on his general views about Trump and his support for the Black community. He added: " Well, that’s the thing about social media. It’s so easy to fool people."

One person who was tricked by the photos said he had been impressed about Trump's connection with the black community (Getty Images)

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The co-founder of Black Voters Matter, Cliff Albright, said the AI-generated photos appear to be part of a resurgence of disinformation tactics used in the 2020 election targeted toward the Black community. They said: "There have been documented attempts to target disinformation to black communities again, especially younger black voters."

A poll from the NY Times and Sienna College found only 71 per cent of Black voters in key swing states would vote for Biden. That is a fall of more than 20% from the same poll in 2020 which showed 92% would vote for President.

Make America Great Again Inc, the main political action committee backing Trump, is set to launch an advertising campaign this week aimed at Black voters in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Sean McPolin