Political Consultant Confesses to Orchestrating Fake Phone Messages

American political consultant Steve Kramer, who is associated with the Democrat Dean Phillips’ campaign, admitted to being responsible for automated calls, where he mimicked President Joe Biden’s voice using artificial intelligence.

This AI-generated robocall, which is currently under scrutiny for potentially illegal disruption of a vote, urged voters to abstain from participating in New Hampshire’s Democratic primaries in January.

This incident has heightened concerns among authorities, experts, and associations about the potential misuse of audio or video montages for spreading disinformation during the upcoming American presidential election and other significant elections globally.

Kramer, who works for the Democratic primary candidate and Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips, confessed to NBC News that he had engaged Paul Carpenter, a magician from New Orleans, to replicate Joe Biden’s voice using AI. His intention was to highlight the potential dangers of AI in politics.

Kramer defended his actions, stating to NBC, “For $500, I did a deal worth about $5 million, whether it was the media attention or the reaction from the authorities. It was my way of making a difference.”

The fraudulent phone message, scripted by Kramer, started with “What a load of rubbish!” – a phrase often used by the president.

The message continued, “It is important that you save your vote for the November election. Voting this Tuesday only allows Republicans to elect Donald Trump again. Your vote will make the difference in November, not this Tuesday.”

Kramer asserted that the robocall was made without the knowledge of Dean Phillips’ campaign. Phillips responded on X (formerly Twitter), “I’m glad he confessed. America should already have safeguards in place to prevent harmful uses of AI.”

Kramer disclosed that he had received a subpoena from the American telecoms regulator (FCC) and is anticipating legal proceedings.

The FCC recently decided to prohibit robocalls made with voices generated by an AI program, aiming to fight the sophisticated scams that this technology could enable.