Everyone wants Taylor Swift's vote. But celebrity endorsements are complicated.

Doug Mirell, litigation partner and First Amendment expert, shared his insights with NPR regarding the appearance of AI-generated fake celebrity endorsements of political candidates.

Excerpts:

The rise of social media and deep-fakes created by artificial intelligence, such as those of [Taylor] Swift appearing to endorse [Donald] Trump, is also an issue.

“There have been manipulated celebrity photographs since the beginning of photography, certainly, but the rampant use of AI and its ubiquity are what is new," said Douglas Mirell, an entertainment lawyer with the Los Angeles firm Greenberg Glusker who works to curb unauthorized uses of AI. "It is so pervasive and so potentially manipulable, that people can't tell what's true and what's not true. So AI really does create a much more serious threat to the fundamental touchstone of democracy, which is truth-telling."

Mirell said the impact of AI-generated images, on election results remains to be seen.

"When we're talking about people like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, their endorsements would be potentially very important," he said. "And that's why I think everyone really needs to be concerned about this issue."

Resources

• NPR