(NewsNation) — A New Orleans street magician says he unknowingly created audio for what authorities have said may be the first known attempt to use artificial intelligence to interfere with a U.S. election.
Paul Carpenter tells NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo he was hired by Steve Kramer, a Democratic consultant who worked for Dean Phillips’ presidential campaign, to use AI to mimic President Joe Biden’s voice for the robocalls.
Carpenter was under the impression that the recording was for Biden, but he learned later that the call was used in an attempt to discourage people from voting for Biden in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary last month.
“I never knew that he (Kramer) was working for the presidential hopeful (Phillips),” Carpenter said during the appearance on “CUOMO.” “I thought that Steve Kramer worked for Biden. I had been told that for a 2-month period.”
“I always thought it was for them to try out the system, to see if it could work, because it’s easier than sending someone in to do a recording at a studio,” Carpenter added.
Screenshots Carpenter took include a text Kramer sent him three days before the New Hampshire primary saying he had emailed Carpenter a script. Venmo transactions show an account with the same name as Kramer’s father paid Carpenter $150 on Jan. 20, three days before the primary.
Two days later, when news of the fake Biden robocall broke, the texts provided by Carpenter show Kramer texting him a link to a story and the message, “Shhhhhhh.”
Later, Carpenter said, he learned that criminal investigations had been launched. That made him nervous, so he contacted an NBC reporter. He told the Associated Press he has an attorney and is considering legal action against Kramer.
Phillips also joined “CUOMO” to discuss the robocalls.
“You can’t make this stuff up. First of all, let me denounce this,” Phillips said. “I’m repulsed. It’s sickening. We need AI regulation because this is happening all around us all the time. It’s appalling.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.