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Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt believes the social media inaction against increasing AI-generated fake content could turn the US 2024 election into a ” mess.” Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box, Schmidt urged social media companies to combat fake AI-generated content and misinformation proactively.
The US 2024 presidential election is approaching. And candidates from both Democratic and Republican parties will fight to enter the White House’s Oval Office. Misinformation and fake content is always a hot topic in the days leading to the election. The election for 2024 is no exception. After US Senators acted to evaluate the Big Tech layoffs in the upcoming election. An Ex-Google CEO is warning about the impact of AI and fake content generated by it.
Eric Schmidt, who served at Google from 2001 to 2011, said, “The 2024 elections are going to be a mess because social media is not protecting us from falsely generated AI.” The tech billionaire added that the platforms are still working on the problem, but nothing has been solved yet. Additionally, he said the safety groups on social media companies are getting smaller instead of getting larger to combat misinformation.
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt warns about the impact of AI on the US 2024 election
Eric Schmidt already warned about the dangers of AI’s rapid development and lack of regulations. He recently labeled AI as an “existential risk” that could even be used for killing people. Schmidt also said that misinformation is a short-term danger to AI.
As the former CEO of Google and executive chairman of parent company Alphabet, Schmidt also reacted to YouTube’s recent move to allow users to question the validity of the 2020 election. He said social media platforms should allow “free speech for humans, not computers.” Google-owned YouTube recently announced it would “stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 elections.”
It remains to be seen what plans social media platforms have to battle fake AI-generated content and misinformation during the 2024 election. Lawmakers believe the layoffs could negatively impact the platform’s ability to deal with false content. The US senators also asked Meta, Google, and Twitter to see if they need to hire more people for their content moderation groups.