Science

Quiz asks you to spot the difference between Trump's speeches and AI software's


A study has shed light on a new threat in the upcoming US presidential election – artificial intelligence.

Experts have developed a text generating AI, dubbed ‘RoboTrump’, to see if people can differentiate between the real US President’s speech and a robot’s.

The team found that 60 percent of participants could not tell the difference and a majority of these individuals were Trump supporters.

The study, developed by Lawsuit.org, set out to raise awareness about how easy it is to create fake speeches that sound like the real thing during the election.

Following the test, 43 percent of the participants said they were more concerned about the implications of AI-generated text on the 2020 election than prior to taking the quiz. 

Scroll down for video 

‘Text generated by Artificial Intelligence can now be used to replicate a specific speaker’s style of writing,’ according to Lawsuit.org, the firm behind the study.

‘This technology represents great risk to those who are unaware of its potential for manipulation and fake news generation.’

The team used Salesforce’s ‘CTRL’, a natural language model that now allows anyone to ‘fine-tune’ it, giving the researches the ability to train the model on text written by an individual person.

A survey and quiz were given to 1,000 participants, who were tested to see if they could determine which speeches were written by the real president Trump and which came from RoboTrump.

A study has shed light on a new threat in the upcoming US presidential election – artificial intelligence. Experts have developed a text generating AI, dubbed 'RoboTrump', to see if people can differentiate between the real US President's speech and a robot's

A study has shed light on a new threat in the upcoming US presidential election – artificial intelligence. Experts have developed a text generating AI, dubbed ‘RoboTrump’, to see if people can differentiate between the real US President’s speech and a robot’s

A survey and quiz were given to 1,000 participants, who were tested to see if they could determine which speeches were written by the real president Trump and which came from RoboTrump

A survey and quiz were given to 1,000 participants, who were tested to see if they could determine which speeches were written by the real president Trump and which came from RoboTrump

Participants were asked to read and evaluate 20 paragraphs that focused on 10 different political topics.

‘On average, respondents guessed correctly only 40% of the time, or 10% worse than blindly guessing,’ Lawsuit.org explained.

‘This is proof of the massive danger presented by this new technology.

The study also found that Trump supports and younger individuals were more likely to think that AI-generated text was real.

‘While Trump’s rambling style probably makes differentiating between real and fake more difficult than it would be for a more eloquent and talented speaker, today’s new natural language generation AI models have reached a tipping point in their ability to generate fake, real-sounding text,’ shared Lawsuit.org.  

Following the test, 43 percent of the participants said they were more concerned about the implications of AI-generated text on the 2020 election than prior to taking the quiz.

Following the test, 43 percent of the participants said they were more concerned about the implications of AI-generated text on the 2020 election than prior to taking the quiz.

The team found that 60 percent of participants could not tell the difference and a majority of these individuals were Trump supporters

The team found that 60 percent of participants could not tell the difference and a majority of these individuals were Trump supporters

Although Lawsuit.org referred to Trump’s speech as ‘rambling’, this is what may have won him the 2016 election.

Researchers found the way ‘The Donald’ speech mirrors the average person’s conversation – which makes supporters believe he is an honest outsider.

Trump’s language style has made him standout among the competition and helped him woo many voters into supporting his campaign prior to the election.

‘Trump’s speech is appealing to many because it contrasts with the rehearsed style of other candidates,’ Georgetown University linguist Jennifer Sclafani told DailyMail.

‘His conversational style contributes to his overall image as a political outsider and as an ‘authentic’ candidate, which is an important quality to American voters.’

Education also appeared to play a role in how believable respondents found the AI-generated text. Here, we see somewhat of a bi-modal distribution, with the least educated being the least skeptical (thinking most everything was real)

Education also appeared to play a role in how believable respondents found the AI-generated text. Here, we see somewhat of a bi-modal distribution, with the least educated being the least skeptical (thinking most everything was real) 

Trump supporters were also more likely to think that AI-generated text was real, showing less overall skepticism than those unsupportive of Trump

Trump supporters were also more likely to think that AI-generated text was real, showing less overall skepticism than those unsupportive of Trump

‘On one hand, people’s different reactions to the way he speaks mirror other differences in opinions about qualities we consider important when judging presidential candidates.’

‘Research in political communication has shown that voters’ political leanings can also affect their interpretations of a candidate’s coherence and rhetorical style, so people who like Trump for other reasons may be influenced to also appreciate his linguistic style.’

Trump graduated from Wharton School, has written many New York Times bestsellers and is worth $4 billion.

Looking at these facts, one would think he would use structured sentences and have a large vocabulary, but his sentences are fragmented and very simple when addressing the masses during debates and rallies.

A majority of the individuals who failed the quiz were found to be Trump supporters (stock)

A majority of the individuals who failed the quiz were found to be Trump supporters (stock)

‘Fragmented sentences are actually quite natural and common in everyday speech, regardless of what language a person is speaking or other factors like the geographical origin, social class, or educational background of the speaker,’ said Sclafani.

‘People take notice of Trump’s fragmented sentences because they are less common in formal public speeches, which are often first written and rehearsed or read from a teleprompter.’

‘When Trump speaks in public in a more conversational style, like in a victory speech or in a debate, he appears to many as a more relatable candidate because he speaks in the way we all do in everyday life.’

As some say, it makes him seem like ‘someone you could have a beer with.’ 

 

 



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.