DeepSummary
The podcast episode discusses how deepfake technology, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), is being used by political parties in India's 2023 general election. AI is being employed to create fake videos, voice clones, personalized messages, and propaganda content aimed at influencing voters. A technology journalist, Nilesh Christopher, provides insights into the different ways AI is being utilized by various parties across the political spectrum.
One notable example is AI-generated images portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Hindu nationalist light, such as a warrior from the Mahabharata epic or a saffron superhero, resonating with his base of Hindu nationalist supporters. The Congress party has also used AI to create images of Rahul Gandhi. Additionally, AI voice clones of politicians are being used to create personalized messages for voters.
The episode explores the potential implications of using AI in elections, including the spread of misinformation and communal hate speech. Experts warn that while AI misuse has been limited so far, the technology could supercharge polarization along religious lines. The host also raises concerns about the lack of proper disclosure for AI-generated content on social media platforms.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Indian political parties across the spectrum are using AI technology, including deepfakes, voice clones, and personalized messages, to influence voters in the 2023 general election.
- One notable use of AI is the creation of images portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Hindu nationalist light, appealing to his base of Hindu nationalist supporters.
- There are concerns about the potential for AI technology to spread misinformation, hate speech, and polarization along religious lines in the Indian election context.
- Social media platforms like Instagram lack proper disclosure mechanisms for AI-generated content, making it difficult for users to identify such content.
- While AI misuse has been limited so far, experts warn that the technology could supercharge polarization and societal harm if not properly regulated.
- The use of AI for political campaigns in India may serve as a blueprint for its adoption in other countries, including the United States, raising concerns about the future use of such technology in elections worldwide.
- While AI is a significant factor in the Indian election, Prime Minister Modi's own speeches and rhetoric have also been criticized for contributing to societal harm and polarization.
- The episode highlights the need for proper regulation and ethical guidelines around the use of AI in political campaigns to prevent misinformation and protect the integrity of elections.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “When we reached out to Instagram, they said that the creators of many of these videos simply put out these images and declared the use of AI through hashtags. They put hashtag AI art, hashtag mid journal. We asked Instagram if these were sufficient disclosures, because if you find these images in the wild, it would come across that these are real images. So Instagram told us these were not sufficient disclosures, but they stopped short because they didn't tell us what more could be done to disclose the use of AI and AI images in the political context.“ by Nilesh Christopher
- “From the examples that we have seen so far, yes, there have been at least a dozen cases of illegal use of AI clones, including one in which indian bolawat star Aamir Khans voice was cloned by one of the Congress party affiliates and he was heard endorsing the Congress. And then soon after the PDO went viral, there was a police case filed, and the police are currently investigating the creators of it and who spread this misinformation.“ by Nilesh Christopher
- “The prime minister's speech itself was enough to cause societal harm. We did not meet the clutch or the excuse of AI for it.“ by Nilesh Christopher
- “I absolutely see indonesian service providers and indian service providers angling for the extremely lucrative US market and others. So us should keep an eye out for these kinds of service providers entering the market, cloning senators voices, and doing outreach.“ by Nilesh Christopher
Entities
Concept
Person
Company
Book
Place
Episode Information
The Take
Al Jazeera
5/17/24
From the resurrection of dead leaders, to cloned voices of politicians and Bollywood stars, political campaigns are shaking up India’s general election by heavily investing in AI technology. Could it be a blueprint for elections everywhere?
In this episode:
- Nilesh Christopher, (@nilchristopher), Technology Journalist
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Ashish Malhotra, Chloe K. Li and Sonia Bhagat with our host Malika Bilal. Catherine Nouhan and Manahil Naveed fact-checked this episode.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
Connect with us:
@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube