Potential for AI Deepfakes Tomorrow Does Not Justify Government Secrecy Today

By Chris McIsaac, R Street Inst., June 13, 2024

Amid an ongoing legal dispute over the public’s right to hear audio recordings of an interview federal investigators conducted with President Joe Biden last year, the administration is pushing a novel theory to support their position that the tapes should be kept secret: fears the recordings could be used to create an artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake. The Department of Justice (DOJ) made this argument as part of a May court filing, and while it does not represent the only rationale for withholding the audio, this line of thinking raises serious concerns around future efforts to shield government records from public disclosure in the age of AI.

Read more here.