Justice Department's 'deepfake' concerns about Biden interview audio underscore AI abuse worries

• Post by: Admin
• Jun 04 2024

The Justice Department is concerned that releasing the audio of President Joe Biden's interview with a special counsel about his handling of classified documents could inspire deepfakes that deceive Americans

Justice Department's 'deepfake' concerns about Biden interview audio underscore AI abuse worries

The Justice Department is concerned that releasing the audio of President Joe Biden's interview with a special counsel about his handling of classified documents could inspire deepfakes that deceive Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) — Releasing an audio recording of a special counsel's interview with President Joe Biden could inspire deepfakes and disinformation that deceive Americans, the Justice Department said, acknowledging that the U.S. government cannot stop the abuse of artificial intelligence ahead of this year's election.

A senior Justice Department official raised the concerns in a court filing Friday seeking to justify keeping the recording secret. The Biden administration is trying to persuade a judge to block the release of the recording of the president's interview about his handling of classified documents.

The admission underscores the impact AI-manipulated disinformation could have on the election and the limits of the federal government's ability to combat it.

A conservative group seeking to force the recording's release called the argument a "red herring."

Mike Howell of the Heritage Foundation accused the Justice Department of seeking to protect Biden from potential embarrassment. A transcript of the interview shows the president had difficulty recalling certain dates and confusing details, but demonstrated good recall at other times.

"They don't want to release this audio recording at all," said Howell, executive director of the group's surveillance project. "They're using every possible means and are completely freaked out because they don't have a good legal argument to rely on."

The Justice Department declined to comment beyond the filing on Monday.

Biden invoked executive privilege last month to block the release of the recording of his two-day October interview with special counsel Robert Hur. The Justice Department argues that witnesses might be less willing to cooperate if they knew their interviews could become public. It also said Republican efforts to force the release of the audio recording could make it harder to protect sensitive law enforcement records.

Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Associated Press he was concerned that the audio recording could be manipulated by malicious actors using artificial intelligence. Still, the senator said, it should be made public.

"You need to release the audio recording," Warner said, although it would need some "watermarking components so that if it's altered, journalists and others could cry foul."

In a lengthy report, Hur concluded that no criminal charges were warranted for his handling of classified documents. In his report, he described the 81-year-old Democrat's memory as "fuzzy," "poor" and with "significant limitations." He noted that Biden could not recall milestones such as the death of his son Beau or his tenure as vice president.

Biden's aides have long been defensive about the president's age, a trait that has drawn relentless attacks from Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and other Republicans. Trump is 77.

The Justice Department's concerns about deepfakes were expressed in court documents filed in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by a coalition of media and other groups, including the Heritage Foundation and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

A lawyer for the media coalition that includes The Associated Press said Monday that the public has a right to hear the recording and assess whether the special counsel "accurately described" Biden's interview.

"The government is turning the Freedom of Information Act on its head by telling the court that the public cannot be trusted with this information," the lawyer, Chuck Tobin, wrote in an email.

Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer acknowledged that "malicious actors" could easily use independent audio recordings of Hur and Biden to create a fake version of the interview.

But he argued that releasing the actual audio recording would make it harder for the public to distinguish deepfakes from the real ones.

"If the audio recording is released, the public would know the audio recording is available, and malicious actors could create an audio deepfake in which a fake voice of President Biden can be programmed to say whatever the deepfake creator wants," Weinsheimer wrote.

Experts on identifying AI-manipulated content said the Justice Department has legitimate concerns about limiting the dangers of AI, but its arguments could have far-reaching consequences.

"If we pursue this strategy, it will be difficult to publish any kind of content, even if it is original," said Alon Yamin, co-founder of Copyleaks, an AI-based content detection service that focuses primarily on text and code.

Nikhel Sus, deputy general counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said he has never seen the government raise concerns about AI in litigation over access to government records. He suspects such arguments could become more common.

"Knowing how the Justice Department works, this brief needs to be reviewed by lawyers at multiple levels," Sus said. "The fact that they put this in a brief shows that the department stands behind it as a legal argument, so we can expect to see the same argument in future cases."