Joe Nero
“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the pussy. You can do anything.” When this recording of then presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016, America and the world erupted. Many thought Trump’s chances at becoming president were buried solely because of his 2005 comments degrading women. The recording comes from a private conversation with former television personality Billy Bush. While Trump’s career was ultimately not affected negatively because of the tape, Bush lost his job and has a negative tinge on his legacy because of one three minute conversation.
I don’t bring this instance up as an attack against Donald Trump. Rather, the tape exhibits the fact that recordings, videos, pictures, and any other form of digital media spread like wildfire in today’s world, and that what you say or do in front of a camera or microphone can destroy your reputation and possibly even your life. This is where the Lyrebird technology could become extremely lethal in the future. As voice replication technologies grow and improve in the future, discerning one’s true identity will become more sophisticated. American politics, especially in a campaign setting, already thrives off of the degradation of the other candidate(s). Attack ads are commonplace for both sides of every race, many including sound bites from the targeted candidate. With the emergence of voice replication, negative campaigners will become more ruthless in their ad making, and will use the technology to sabotage opposing candidates. Tapes similar to that of Trump will become more and more prevalent, and in a country where the voters already do not trust politicians it will be extremely difficult for candidates to clear their names. Voters will have no real way of knowing what a candidate really said or did. The unfortunate message to those negative campaigners becomes the same that Billy Bush heard from Donald Trump: “You can do anything.”
