AI-generated videos and manipulated content are becoming increasingly difficult to detect, raising concerns ahead of the upcoming federal election.
With the vote just around the corner, how much of what we see and hear online can we really trust?
On Wednesday’s episode of The Briefing, we sat down with Professor Daniel Angus, Director of QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre, about the growing use of AI in political campaigns and whether it could influence voters in the lead-up to May 3.
While AI-generated videos have been used for entertainment, they’re also being harnessed to manipulate public opinion.
One recent example involved a deepfake video of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
ACT Senator David Pocock created and shared AI-generated videos of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader to urge the passage of urgent legislation on artificial intelligence.
Despite the growing fears about AI’s impact, Professor Angus suggests the technology may not be as influential as some believe.
“The technology is not mature enough to significantly affect elections,” he said.
Angus said that other forms of misinformation, such as astroturfing campaigns funded by powerful industries, are more pressing concerns.
“The worst I think we can do is allow the kind of AI bogeyman to take the focus away from the things that might genuinely negatively impact the authenticity of our election in Australia that are already in play.”
AI-generated media may be a powerful tool for influence, but it is just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
“I’m far more concerned about forms of domestic disinformation through astroturfing campaigns, through big, well-resourced, say, fossil fuel companies and other vested interests who are going to try to attempt to subvert democracy in this country to install leadership that they would think are more sympathetic for their particular commercial ends.”
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