Trump’s crowd-size lies get an AI upgrade

August 13, 2024

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hold a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Aug. 7, 2024.

REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt

Donald Trump has lied about crowd sizes for years. But now he’s claiming — falsely — that Kamala Harris’ rallies aren’t as popular as they are. “Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport?” Trump posted on Truth Social. “There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.‘d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!”

Trump claimed that the Harris campaign used artificial intelligence to manufacture a crowd where there wasn’t one. Except there was. Harris and running mate Tim Walz held a rally at a packed airplane hangar at Detroit Metro Airport last week, with news outlets estimating that 15,000 people were there. The Harris campaign pushed back against Trump, posting on X, “1) This is an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan, 2) Trump has still not campaigned in a swing state in over a week ... Low energy?”

While AI can be used to confuse people, its absence doesn’t negate that. Politicians can claim any image they don’t like is AI — even if the facts don’t support it.

Will Netanyahu fire his defense minister?

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks next to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel , 28 October 2023.

Abir Sultan/Reuters

Gallant, who was fired by Netanyahu as defense minister last year before being reinstated two weeks later, has been deeply critical of the prime minister’s prosecution of the war in Gaza — particularly for not accepting a cease-fire deal that would bring hostages home.

Trump’s crowd-size lies get an AI upgrade

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Trump’s crowd-size lies get an AI upgrade

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More from GZERO Media

Remember that embarrassing picture of you on Facebook?

A hacker was able to coerce ChatGPT into breaking its own rules — and giving out bomb-making instructions.

Ireland’s data privacy authority has opened an inquiry into Google’s artificial intelligence practices.

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Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Joe Biden’s administration wants to forge ahead with its artificial intelligence goals, but those seem somewhat in conflict with their climate change mitigation efforts.

OpenAI has unveiled its latest AI model, once code-named Strawberry and now officially dubbed o1.

Gallant, who was fired by Netanyahu as defense minister last year before being reinstated two weeks later, has been deeply critical of the prime minister’s prosecution of the war in Gaza — particularly for not accepting a cease-fire deal that would bring hostages home.

Trump — who has routinely employed violent rhetoric — has also pointed the finger at Dems over the attempt on his life in July.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday to learn how her hard-line tactics against irregular migration could help him deliver on his election promise to “smash the gangs” driving such migration to the UK.