Elon Musk, who himself has often warned about the unintended consequences of artificial intelligence (AI), got into a heated argument with California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in late July. The point of contention: Musk posted a video about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris that was a purported campaign ad. It didn’t take an expert to notice that the video wasn’t from Harris’ team, but rather an AI-generated parody.
California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t take kindly to the joke: “Manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this should be illegal.” The California governor “will sign a law to make sure of that.” Musk responded by asking when parody and satire had been illegal in the United States.
An election campaign based on AI
The already tense election campaign took a new turn with Elon Musk’s intervention in the debate around AI. This time, he was responding to a post published on X by Kamala Harris’ campaign team, insinuating that Donald Trump would establish a dictatorship from the start of his possible new presidency. “Donald Trump wants to be a dictator from day one,” stated the illustration, whose colors recalled those of the cover of “Time” magazine, accompanied by the slogan: “We will not let him do it.”
We won’t let him. pic.twitter.com/dLg9QOzkiI
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 1, 2024
Elon Musk commented: “You’re lying.†Shortly after, he posted an AI-generated rendition of Kamala Harris in a communist uniform, with a hammer and sickle on her cap, on X. He added the following text: “Kamala vows to be a communist dictator from day one.†Musk asks ironically: “Can you believe she’s wearing that outfit!â€
Kamala vows to be a communist dictator on day one. Can you believe she wears that outfit!? https://t.co/Anu9tKQHXN pic.twitter.com/ISKFXYnSon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2024
We won’t let him. pic.twitter.com/dLg9QOzkiI
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 1, 2024
Trump dictator for a day
The reference to dictatorship made by Kamala Harris’ team takes the former president literally, but takes out of context an earlier statement of his. Last December, he said in an interview with Fox News that he wanted to be a dictator “on day one.” “But you don’t want to be a dictator, do you?” the journalist asked. “No, no, no,” Trump replied. “Apart from day one. I want to close the border and I want to drill for oil.” In this way, Donald Trump addressed two hot-button issues of the election campaign, namely illegal immigration and high energy prices.
