Would you be fooled? Watch for yourself below
A video circulating on social media just days before the city’s runoff election appears to feature Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller narrating a driving tour past homeless camps, watching surveillance footage of carjackings and trashing critics – except Keller never said any of those words.
When KOB TV first published the story about the introduction of artificial intelligence into the city election on Thursday night, both campaigns denied producing the video and the station said “the creator of the AI video remains unknown.”
But the creator is known to City Desk because the creator submitted an earlier version for consideration to publish as a satire piece in November.
“When the creator asked to remain anonymous, we declined to publish it because we require community submissions, whether as a letter to the editor, political cartoon or satire video, to be attributable and verifiable, and this piece was neither,” says Publisher Pat Davis. “We also felt that the lack of AI disclaimers could be confusing or misleading to readers.”
Reached by phone on Friday, the content’s creator, whom City Desk is not naming, says they never intended to mislead anyone because the video was satire and included clearly AI-generated photos of Albuquerque, including a fake gold statue of Keller on Civic Plaza, and the narrator calling himself “Tim Killer.”
The creator said it was initially shared among friends via text but one of those persons shared it on a personal Instagram account. Although it was quickly removed, they say, that was long enough for it to be picked up elsewhere online.
Nonetheless, the video has raised concerns from candidates about how voters might perceive the video.
The Keller campaign told KOB TV and City Desk “it’s cowardly, anonymous, and designed to mislead voters without taking responsibility. We trust Albuquerque voters, they know a fake when they hear one.” Darren White’s campaign also denied any knowledge of the video’s origins, but they did tell KOB TV it was effective at “capturing the true problems that are plaguing our city.” Both campaigns referred us to their earlier statements to KOB TV.
In 2024, the state legislature passed one of the nation’s toughest AI laws prohibiting the distribution of “materially deceptive media” produced with AI without the candidate’s permission. But the law also requires the video to be reasonably likely to deceive a voter, a vague term legal experts City Desk talked with said would be hard to prove in court. The city’s ethics and election codes do not explicitly mention AI and the city only regulates candidates and committee campaign activity, not actions of individuals.
Keller’s campaign seemed to shrug off concerns that voters would assume the piece was real. “Of course the recording circulating online is a deepfake — an AI-generated fabrication meant to mimic Mayor Keller’s voice. It is completely false,” the campaign said.
Would you be fooled?
See the video online for yourself and add your comments below.