Ahead of the elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin, digital expert Benjamin Shultz of the think tank Agora Digitale Transformation has cautioned against yet another loss of public trust in politics resulting from AI manipulations. Speaking to the “Rheinische Post” (Wednesday edition), he noted that deepfakes could mislead people by distorting their perception of reality. Shultz warned that this type of manipulation facilitates the influencing and destabilizing of democratic processes and political parties, predicting that politics will consequently become more chaotic, disorganized, and emotionally charged, meaning the damage caused by deepfakes goes far beyond single pieces of content.
Echoing these concerns, political consultant Martin Fuchs also warned about the consequences of deepfakes in election campaigns. According to Fuchs, the greatest danger posed by AI manipulation is not the manipulated video itself, but the fundamental distrust it generates. He points out that this leads to an increased loss of confidence among the public, who are now unsure what to believe and what not to believe because they can no longer accurately identify AI-generated material.
