How to spot AI ahead of the federal election
Artificial intelligence has become pervasive in our society, influencing various aspects of our daily lives. As the federal election approaches, BTN High engages with young individuals to discuss the impact of AI on voting decisions. The discussion aims to provide insights on how to differentiate between genuine information and AI-generated content. AI's presence in the political landscape is a topic of growing importance and interest among the younger generation. The exploration of these ideas sheds light on the evolving intersection of technology and democracy.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has crept into almost every corner of our lives. Autocorrect on your phone? That's AI. Search engines use it based on your previous searches, and it's used in your social media algorithms, online shopping, and gaming, as well as farming, transport, and healthcare. We live with and use AI every day — even if we're not consciously aware of it.
AI in Elections
So with the federal election looming, although no date has been set yet, how will AI be used to get our votes? And how can we identify it? AI in elections isn't new. In fact, it's had a hand in some way or another since around 2015. But what makes things different for this election is that AI has become more sophisticated, and there are a lot more people online to see it. Politicians are worried deepfakes could affect the election.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) says, according to a University of Canberra study, while even though Australia's legal voting age is 18, young people who are likely to vote in the following election are concerned.
Eliza, aged 23, says it's hard to discern what's AI-generated political content. She mentions, "Some of it is hard to denote between what's been made by a person and what's been made by artificial intelligence — and that's quite scary, to be honest." Australian Electoral Commission state manager Cameron Stokes says AI is relatively new technology but it's emerging "very rapidly".
Real vs. Fake
In the United States, researchers found X was flooded with an army of AI-powered bots spreading pro-Republican propaganda, and there were AI-generated images of Taylor Swift falsely endorsing candidates. In the UK, an ran in the general election. And in Indonesia, political party Golkar used AI to create a encouraging voters to vote for his party, and it turned presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, a former ex-special forces commander dogged by allegations of human rights abuses, into. He won the election.
Senator Jacqui Lambie allowed ABC NEWS Verify to use inexpensive AI tools to create a robocall with her voice ahead of the federal election — it was good enough to fool some of her supporters. Not all AI used in elections is bad though. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so that more people can connect.
Concerns of Young Australians
Are young Australians concerned that AI could influence the upcoming federal election? "Definitely, if it starts looking more real than it used to," says 15-year-old Aazeen. Researchers from found videos on the Chinese social media platform RedNote targeting Australian politicians, with AI-generated videos of saying he intends to deport Chinese Australians.
AI is getting good. Especially older people wouldn't be able to tell if it's AI or not, so they could get tricked into voting for certain people. Ethan, 13, mentioned, "I've been tricked a lot of times ... the really good AI videos, you'll have to look for it, but you can always find a bit of an inconsistency." Sam, 14, predicted, "It will get harder to tell what's real as AI advances in technology."
Final Thoughts
Eliza, 23, thinks AI has gotten a little bit out of hand at this point, but other young people aren't that concerned. She said, "It is getting worryingly good, but I don't think it's good enough to really trick anyone about anything important." Mr Stokes says the challenge for Australian voters will be to decide what's true.
Robert, aged 32, feels a lot of people are losing their basic judgment and critical thinking when it comes to social media. He emphasizes, "We're focusing on something fun instead of thinking." AAP FactCheck will continue to provide checks for Meta for at least another 12 months while international news wire AFP told the ABC the outlet was also committed to fact-checking for this year in Australia.
Mr Stokes says the AEC "works really closely with all the social media platforms", and voters can expect to see the AEC's "stop and consider" campaign on social media. He advises, "Stop and think about the source of that material. Is that a source that they can trust? Think about the content. Does it feel like the full story? Does it feel like it makes sense? And if you're in any doubt about what you're seeing online, contact the AEC through any of our social media channels or jump on our website, and we can help you work your way through whatever might be troubling you."