In 2023, tech commentators warned that 2024 would be “the last human election,” predicting that whoever had the most computing power would decide the winner. That prediction proved wrong. It kept not happening in 2026, too. Taylor Barkley, Director of Federal Government Affairs at the Abundance Institute, has spent years tracking AI’s actual impact on elections, and the data tells a very different story than the panic. Newt talks with Taylor about why voters proved far more resistant to AI-generated fakes than the doomsayers expected, what a Russian influence operation targeting Senate candidates this cycle actually accomplished, and why Barkley believes the greatest threat to democracy isn’t deep fakes but the wave of state laws restricting political speech in the name of stopping them.

<p>In 2023, tech commentators warned that 2024 would be &ldquo;the last human election,&rdquo; predicting that whoever had the most computing power would decide the winner. That prediction proved wrong. It kept not happening in 2026, too. Taylor Barkley, Director of Federal Government Affairs at the Abundance Institute, has spent years tracking AI&rsquo;s actual impact on elections, and the data tells a very different story than the panic. Newt talks with Taylor about why voters proved far more resistant to AI-generated fakes than the doomsayers expected, what a Russian influence operation targeting Senate candidates this cycle actually accomplished, and why Barkley believes the greatest threat to democracy isn&rsquo;t deep fakes but the wave of state laws restricting political speech in the name of stopping them.</p>

Join Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House and Ph.D. historian, for the most diverse, informative, and entertaining podcast available. Every episode is an education.

<p>Join Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House and Ph.D. historian, for the most diverse, informative, and entertaining podcast available. Every episode is an education.</p>

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Episode 1064: Deep Fakes, Free Speech, and the Future of Elections — Taylor Barkley on AI’s Real Impact

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e25b1af0-164a-4044-8ea1-b50300441300/transcript