WASHINGTON — As federal aid continues to flow into Maui and emergency response officials on the groundwork to connect survivors of the Maui wildfires with sources of funding and other support, hostile governments and other bad actors are spreading disinformation in an attempt to sow confusion and discord, according to U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
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During a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Hirono questioned a panel of experts about how artificial intelligence has been used to spread disinformation and undermine trust in the government during disasters like the Maui wildfire
Brad Smith, vice chair and president of the Microsoft Corporation decried the spread of Russian and Chinese disinformation, which aimed to discourage people impacted by the Maui fires from accessing federal disaster relief and promote conspiracies that the fire was caused by the U.S. government using a meteorological weapon
In one instance, video purporting to show a laser striking an area of Lahaina and causing an explosion was broadly shared in the days and weeks after the fire. The Associated Press later reported that the video actually showed a transformer explosion in Chile earlier this year
Smith said the United States and other governments need to establish “clear red lines” with regard to using AI for hostile purposes
During a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Hirono questioned a panel of experts about how artificial intelligence has been used to spread disinformation and undermine trust in the government during disasters like the Maui wildfire.
