Spitting Images Topline Data and Findings

Lindsay Gorman,
Brooke Tanner

Over the last year, GMF has been tracking deepfakes across global elections, with an eye to understand their prevalence and the tools and techniques employed at this stage of AI development.

Here’s what we’ve found:

  • 133 Deepfakes across 30 countries and five continents
  • Over a third (39%) of elections held since fall 2023 have featured a significant deepfake campaign.
  • Audio deepfakes are the most popular tool found in our dataset, appearing in 69% of instances tracked.
  • Of the tracked AI deepfake campaigns:
    • 69% feature AI-generated audio
    • 55% feature AI-generated video
    • 20% feature AI-generated images
    • 44% include a combination of media types (chiefly AI-audio and video)
  • We’ve tracked nine times as many deepfakes related to the US 2024 elections (36) as related to the UK’s 2024 election (4).
  • Many instances, especially images, are not necessarily believable at this stage of technology development, with varying and uncertain impact. Artistic campaign promotion is as much a feature of AI use in elections as intent to deceive, though the lines can blur.
  • Many instances were not initially posted publicly online, but instead spread through WhatsApp groups.

See the full map here.