N.H. — The political consultant responsible for robocalls with a voice similar to that of the president Joe Biden said on Monday that was trying to sound the alarm about possible misuses of the artificial intelligenceand that his goal was not to influence the outcome of last month's New Hampshire presidential primary.
Days after being publicly identified as the person responsible for the calls, Steve Kramer confirmed in an interview that he paid a New Orleans street magician $150 to create a recorded message that was sent to thousands of voters two days before the Jan. 23 primary. The messages had a voice similar to Biden's, used his phrase “What a load of nonsense” and falsely suggested that voting in the primaries would prevent voters from participating in the November general election.
“Maybe today I am the villain, but I think that at the end of the day we have a better country and a better democracy thanks to what I did deliberately”Kramer declared.
New Hampshire authorities have been investigating the calls as a possible violation of the state's voter suppression law.
Kramer said he disagreed that his robocalls inhibited voter turnout, noting that Biden won the Democratic primary by a wide margin despite not appearing on the ballot. And while he did some voting access work for another Democratic presidential hopeful — Rep. Dean Phillips — Kramer said he acted independently to highlight the dangers of artificial intelligence.
Although federal and New Hampshire authorities have issued a cease-and-desist order against two Texas companies involved in spreading the robocalls, Kramer said neither of them knew what he was planning.
“Their companies had no idea what I was doing, and I don't ask for permission,” he stressed. “I let the outcome be what it is at the end of the day.”
Kramer, owner of a company that specializes in voter turnout projects, has decades of campaign experience at the federal, state and local levels, many of them in NY. He said that since the 2022 midterm elections, he has become increasingly concerned that campaigns and political action committees, among others, will use artificial intelligence in harmful ways. Frustrated with the slow progress of regulations at the federal and state levels, he said he made a New Year's resolution to tackle the problem himself.
“One of the things I said was: This year I want to make a difference,” he said. “By deliberately doing it on Sunday night before Tuesday's primary, when people who are not involved in politics see, even casually, what's going on… it gave me a way to wake up the entire country.”
Kramer indicated he planned to stay silent until last weekend's primary in South Carolina, but the magician he paid, Paul Carpenter, told his story to NBC News. Carpenter, who specializes in card tricks and illusions, told The Associated Press on Friday that he thought Kramer worked for Biden, and was surprised when he learned there was a criminal investigation.
“I made the gun. “I didn't shoot it,” Carpenter said.
The New Hampshire attorney general's office declined to comment Monday. Kramer did not disclose whether state investigators have contacted him, but said he received a subpoena from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and that it will cooperate with the authorities.
The FCC declined to comment Monday on whether it had issued a subpoena for Kramer, noting that it works diligently to combat the misuse of AI.
“I was a wrestler in college; I am ready for the fight,” he stressed. “If they want to imprison me, good luck. Good luck, and I mean it.”
“If they want to fine me for doing the right thing when they didn't, even though it was their job and they went to a fancy law school?” Well, I made one point clear.”
Sophisticated generative AI tools, such as voice cloning software and image generators, are already being used in elections in the United States and around the world, sparking concerns about the rapid spread of misinformation. Last year, as the race for the US presidency got underway, several campaign ads used AI-generated audio or images, and some candidates experimented with using chatbots to communicate with voters.
Kramer estimates he spent about $500 to generate $5 million worth of media coverage.
Bipartisan efforts are underway in Congress to regulate the use of AI in political campaigns, but no federal laws have been passed. However, since robocalls emerged in New Hampshire, the FCC has banned such calls that contain AI-generated voices, and major tech companies have signed a pact to voluntarily implement precautions to prevent robocalls. Use of artificial intelligence tools affects elections.
Kramer says he wants to see immediate action across all regulatory bodies and social platforms.
“I don't care if I get business or if a company leaves me because of this,” he explained. “I did the right thing”.