Donald Trump supporters are using fake AI images to woo Black US voters

Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump have been circulating fake artificial intelligence-generated images portraying the Republican presidential contender with Black people to gain him support from African-American voters, a new investigation has found.

Ahead of the November presidential election, the BBC flagged tens of fake, AI-generated photos showing Donald Trump with Black people, which appear to be created by the supporters themselves.

One Trump supporter, a Florida-based conservative radio host admitted to creating one of the fake images.

“I’m not a photographer. I’m not out there taking pictures of what’s really happening. I’m a storyteller,” Make Kaye, who has a social media following of over a million, told the BBC.

“I’m not claiming it is accurate. I’m not saying, ‘Hey, look, Donald Trump was at this party with all of these African American voters. Look how much they love him.’”

The photos show Trump planted in different scenarios; one shows him posing on a porch with Black men, with social media captions claiming he stopped his motorcade to pose.

Investigators spoke to the co-founder of a campaign group called Black Voters Matter, Cliff Albright, who termed the AI-generated photos an apparent resurgence of disinformation tactics used in the 2020 election targeted toward the Black community.

“There have been documented attempts to target disinformation to black communities again, especially younger black voters,” Albright told the BBC.

These are fake AI generated images being posted by Trump supporters in an effort to garner support among Black voters. pic.twitter.com/45OL8rx82J

The U.S. Congress does not have laws in place regulating AI in politics. AI has already sparked concerns in the 2024 election campaign.

In January, AI-generated robocalls of President Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election in November, were sent to voters in New Hampshire.

The fake call told people not to vote because the primary was a “bunch of malarkey,” according to American media reports. It told voters to “save your vote for the November election.”

A recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College found only 71 per cent of Black voters in six key states would vote for Biden, compared with 92 per cent in 2020.

Trump’s campaign has denied involvement with the images the BBC investigation found.