Taylor Swift expressed her support for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president shortly after the conclusion of Tuesday night’s debate. In her Instagram post, she took issue with former President Donald Trump’s use of artificial intelligence to falsely depict her as endorsing his campaign.
Swift stated, “Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”
The singer, who previously endorsed Joe Biden over Trump in 2020, was widely expected to support Harris in this election cycle. However, after Trump shared a series of AI-generated images of Swift seemingly endorsing his campaign on Truth Social, she felt compelled to clarify her true stance.
“It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” she added.
Swift, a major figure in the music industry, has faced various incidents involving deepfakes since the rise of generative AI technologies. Earlier this year, AI-generated deepfakes of a nude Swift circulated on social media, highlighting the technology’s troubling use in targeting women, even affecting someone as prominent as her.
Trump’s posts illustrated a growing trend among political campaigns utilizing deepfake media without clear disclosures, amidst ongoing debates about the regulation of AI in political advertising. The Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission have been at odds this year over which agency has the authority to oversee the use of AI in elections, but neither is anticipated to issue new rules before the November elections.