{"id":6175,"date":"2025-10-23T19:07:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/republican-debates-opponent-ai-deepfake\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T19:07:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:07:37","slug":"republican-debates-opponent-ai-deepfake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/republican-debates-opponent-ai-deepfake\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Candidate \u201cDebates\u201d Opponent By Sincerely Arguing With AI Deepfake For Nearly an Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You\u2019ve probably heard of a \u201cstraw man,\u201d a fallacy in which you misrepresent an opponent\u2019s argument so it\u2019s easier to refute. Put up a false impression of what they\u2019re saying, and then knock \u2019em down. We all do it.<\/p>\n

But what we all probably don\u2019t do is create a full-blown AI-generated deepfake of our opponent and then sincerely try to argue with it for nearly an hour. And we probably aren\u2019t running for public office, either.<\/p>\n

Credit where credit\u2019s due, though. John Reid, a Republican candidate in the Virginia lieutenant governor race, went ahead and did just that, seemingly not stopping to ask questions like, \u201cwill this make me look insane?\u201d or \u201cdoes this count as spreading misinformation?\u201d \u2014 because he is, you must understand, on the cutting edge of the AI straw man.<\/p>\n

Reid streamed the 40 minute long stunt on his YouTube channel<\/a>, and it\u2019s every bit as absurd as you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n

After boring us with nearly two minutes of text explaining that Reid\u2019s Democratic opponent, state senator Ghazala F. Hashmi, repeatedly turned down his requests for a debate, thus forcing Reid to pursue the \u201cbest-possible alternative\u201d of using AI to replicate Hashmi, an AI debate moderator pops up on the screen in the form of a still image, and introduces them both in a bland voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both candidates give opening statements, with the AI Hashmi going first so Reid can get in a few easy dunks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At long last, a wideshot reveals Reid dutifully standing at a podium and gazing at the podium across from him, where his opponent \u2014 a TV screen playing the AI Hashmi\u2019s responses \u2014 sits equally resolute.<\/p>\n

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This is, without hyperbole, the best thing that’s ever happened. https:\/\/t.co\/hCaUy4wYvy<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/aZfz1dAFhH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 David Weigel (@daveweigel) October 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

What does this say about the state of American politics? Our analysis: that things are very strange indeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not any worse than having an AI Trump piloting a plane and dumping on the public,\u201d Virginia political strategist Bob Holsworth told the Washington Post<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holsworth is of course referring to the bizarre AI generated video president Donald Trump posted over the weekend<\/a> that depicted him as a crown-wearing fighter pilot strafing peaceful protestors with barrages of diarrhea.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has embraced using AI imagery to mock its political opponents and spread propaganda in clips that look like scam mobile game ads. These examples are often so absurd that it can be hard to take them seriously, but they raise uncomfortable questions about the tech\u2019s intrusion into the political sphere. While Reid was debating his AI straw man, an AI-deepfake of Irish presidential candidate Catherine Connolly circulated on social media showing her announcing her \u201cwithdrawal\u201d from the race. The real Connolly called the deepfake a \u201cdisgraceful attempt to mislead voters and undermine our democracy,\u201d per the BBC<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where we are right now, like it or not,\u201d Holsworth told WaPo<\/em>. \u201cUnless there are norms and rules that emerge in terms of the use of AI, you\u2019re likely to see it used in much more sophisticated ways in 2026. So, welcome to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on AI:<\/strong> Zuckerberg Firing Hundreds of AI Developers After Hiring Spree<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The post Republican Candidate \u201cDebates\u201d Opponent By Sincerely Arguing With AI Deepfake For Nearly an Hour<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You\u2019ve probably heard of a \u201cstraw man,\u201d a fallacy in which you misrepresent an opponent\u2019s argument so it\u2019s easier to refute. Put up a false impression of what they\u2019re saying,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}