This week, former President Trump falsely claimed that images of a recent Harris campaign rally were fabricated by artificial intelligence — the first clear instance of a major American candidate sewing deepfake uncertainty.

Trump’s comments come on the back of an increasing tempo of deepfake deception, including someone’s ham-handed attempt to use generated audio of President Biden to sway the New Hampshire primary and a perhaps more impactful use of deepfakes to influence Slovakia's October election. Meanwhile, xAI is rolling out an astounding new model that enables remarkably realistic, unfiltered imagery.

Just as AI is creating institutional uncertainty, the tech is zooming ahead.

The challenge of trust and authenticity in an era of highly capable deepfakes should not be understated. The potential electoral strains are familiar by now, but few have fully grappled with how serious the strain could be on other facets of society.

During a trial, for instance, what’s to stop a criminal from introducing generated security camera footage to clear their name, or crying “AI!” when damning audio evidence is introduced? Baseline expectations of authenticity not only inform democratic institutions but are deeply woven into the basic rule of law.

Beyond the........

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