Athena Strategies President Kathy Boockvar recently spoke with NBC News about her participation in a “war-game” simulation during the 2024 presidential election cycle, organized by The Future US. The Future US is a nonprofit that works to identify, inform, and prevent disruptions from AI and other technologies by strengthening cross-sector partnerships and advancing effective policy. Boockvar is a Senior Advisor for The Future US and is co-leading their AI and Election Security taskforce.
Called “The Deepfake Dilemma”, the exercise was directed at helping officials, tech leaders, and voters anticipate and prepare for the effects of disinformation and AI on the public during the election. The exercise identified the need to strengthen coordination between federal and state governments, communications to the public, and roles each sector can play in minimizing fallout from AI-induced attacks.
“One of the big debates in the room was whose job is it to say if something’s real or fake. Is it the state-level election officials who say we’ve determined that there’s a fake? Is it private companies? Is it the White House?” said Miles Taylor, Chief Policy Officer at The Future US.
Understanding how deepfakes and AI may emerge and spread is key to containing and combatting disinformation from domestic and foreign entities. The Future US is planning to launch a cross-sector public education campaign to raise awareness about these types of fake calls, videos, and other communications, as well as build rapid detection efforts to support election officials and voters.