The technique was previously used during Pakistan's notoriously repressive election season, but this case garnered international attention. Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been jailed for the entirety of his election campaign, disqualifying him from running. With the US presidential campaign ongoing ahead of the 2024 elections, this deepfake from Pakistan was made directly while the man was campaigning from prison. Even though it is forbidden to do so. It received a lot of attention.
Mr Khan's AI Voice emerged victorious as official tallies on Saturday revealed that candidates from his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had won the most seats in an unexpected result that threw the country's political structure into disarray. declared.
The video is similar to the video of Khan's release from prison on December 19, 2023, and includes several updates about his speech and declaration of election victory. After the first part of the video spoken in Urdu, you can hear it spoken in English with English subtitles. I think it would be interesting to listen to.
Khan says: “I was sure you all would come out to vote. “You fulfilled my faith in you and your incredible turnout surprised everyone.” The speech refuses to accept the victory of Nawaz Sharif, whom Khan calls his “rival,” and urges everyone to defend his victory.
The entire video is filled with historical images and footage of Mr. Khan, and surprisingly includes a disclaimer about its artificial intelligence roots.
The New York Times points out that this type of use of AI is not unprecedented.
Ahead of the 2022 presidential election, the People Power Party, which was the opposition party at the time, developed an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar for presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol to have digital conversations with voters and use slang and jokes. To grab the attention of a younger audience – and he won!
Politicians in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand have used artificial intelligence (AI) to create dystopian images to support their positions or highlight potentially dangerous aspects of the technology. This was proven in a movie starring Jordan Peele and a deepfake Barack Obama.
To appeal to this segment of voters, Manoj Tiwari, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate, used a Haryanvi-speaking artificial intelligence (AI) in the 2020 state elections held in Delhi, India. AI) created a deepfake. I don't think it was identified as AI as clearly as the Cannes video.
What about the fake robocall featuring President Joe Biden?
I just received a fake robocall featuring President Joe Biden. “Vote this Tuesday and the Republican Party will be able to re-elect Donald Trump,” the caller said, appearing to impersonate or digitally manipulate the president’s voice. Lawmakers from both major political parties have drafted legislation in at least 14 states to counter the misinformation that artificial intelligence and deepfakes can generate during elections.
As the U.S. election gets closer and the campaign trail gets hotter and more stale, we'll likely see more deepfakes like the Imran Khan video. And experts claim that these deepfakes may or may not have been created by the candidates themselves.
Featured Image Credit: Ron Lach; pexel