Though marred by Internet disruptions, the audio played over a photograph of Khan during a virtual rally of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.The livestream on Youtube was seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers.
“Our party is not allowed to hold public rallies,” Khan said in the speech, urging supporters to turn out in large numbers at general elections set for February 8 next year.
The PTI chose to hold the unique event as it faces a state-backed crackdown on physical gatherings, while its leader is blacked out of media.
Khan’s speech was generated from a written version he had approved from prison, said officials of his party.
Though a first for Pakistan, AI has already made headway in the politics of other countries, including India, US and Bangladesh — which will be holding crucial elections next year.
New age ‘sankat’ in India politics
During campaigning in the recently concluded assembly polls, thousands of voters in Telangana had received video messages depicting a sitting minister appealing them to vote against the ruling government.
In Madhya Pradesh, videos were sent out that made use of clippings from a popular TV show, which showed a famous actor asking questions in an attempt to whip up anti-incumbency sentiments.
The deepfake videos, generated with the help of AI, spread much misinformation that was hard for targeted political parties to battle.
IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has called deepfakes a “threat to democracy” and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his concern over the dangerous capabilities of the technology, referring to AI-generated videos as “new age sankat (difficulty)”.
To spread misinformation at a hyperlocal level, groups are either created for microtargeting audience according to their demographic details, or sometimes groups are bought off from local social media influencers.
But it is not just India’s political system that is witnessing the menace of deepfake-enabled misinformation.
The 2024 US presidential elections
In the US, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has initiated a process to restrict all AI-generated deepfakes in political advertisements ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
AI has become an active participant in the race to the White House, largely inside the operations of candidates and elected officials.
Campaigning offices of candidates, which are usually packed with staff, may require fewer employees as AI can help with data analysis of voting patterns, crafting resident messages, and analysing social media habits.
ChatGPT is already producing first drafts of speeches and campaign marketing materials, as well as being used in fundraising emails and texts.
During Chicago’s February 2023 mayoral primary election, a deepfaked video surfaced of candidate Paul Vallas appearing to approve of police brutality. Vallas ultimately lost the race. It’s impossible to say how much of an impact this video had.
Earlier this year, the US Republican National Committee released an attack ad using AI-generated images to depict a dystopian future under President Joe Biden.
The battle between the falsely generated content and the detection mechanisms that try to eradicate it will surely ramp up.
AI trouble in Bangladesh elections
Bangladesh is set to witness a bitter political power struggle in January 2024 between incumbent PM Sheikh Hasina and her rivals, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party.
The tumultuous election campaigns have been severely marred by deepfakes that have misled voters and inflamed divisions.
In one purported news clip, an AI-generated anchor lambasts the US, a country that Hasina’s government has criticised ahead of the polls.
Another deepfake video, which has since been removed, showed an opposition leader speaking against support for Gazans, a ruinous position in the Muslim-majority country.
Putin talks to Putin
Russia, which will see Vladimir Putin seeking another 6-year term as president in 2024, has had its own tryst with AI, albeit tightly controlled.
During an annual phone-in with the people of his country. The ‘event’ gives citizens of Russia an opportunity to speak ‘directly’ with their president.
This year, Putin dropped a surprise when a ‘deepfake’ Putin asked a question to the real one.
The ‘deepfake’ Putin asked, “Mr President, good afternoon, I am a student studying at St Petersburg Institute. Do you have a lot of twins? And another point, what is your attitude towards the dangers with neural networks and artificial intelligence?”
The ‘real’ Putin answered “I see you may resemble me and speak with my voice. But I have thought about it and decided that only one person must be like me and speak with my voice, and that will be me,” Putin responded.
