AI-generated video dangerous for democracy: Miles
By Savannah Meacham
A deepfake video of the Queensland premier dancing may seem amusing, but Steven Miles says it is a dangerous turning point for democracy.
The Liberal-National Party in Queensland posted a video on the social media platform TikTok showing Steven Miles grooving to a popular 2000s song.
A 14-second LNP TikTok ad shows an AI-generated Steven Miles dancing to a hit song.Credit: TikTok
It was captioned: “POV: my rent is up $60 a week, my power bill is up 20 per cent, but the premier made a sandwich on TikTok.”
But it’s not the premier dancing – the video was created using generative artificial intelligence and is labelled as such.
The premier said while the video seemed harmless, it represented a “turning point for democracy”.
“Until now, we’ve known that photos could be doctored or Photoshopped, but we’ve been trained to believe what we see in video,” Miles told reporters on Tuesday.
“For a political party now to be willing to use AI to make deepfake attack videos, it’s a very dangerous turning point.”
Miles said all Queenslanders would now need to keep their eyes open for the occurrence of fake videos.
“Queenslanders between now and October will have to question everything they see from the LNP and ask whether it is real or a deepfake,” he said.
He guaranteed the Queensland Labor Party had no plans to use AI-generated videos for electoral advertising.
But the LNP’s Queensland branch defended the post, saying it was clearly labelled as AI.
“Young Queenslanders have been hit with higher rents and increased power prices under Labor, and this post – which is clearly labelled as being created with AI – is an example of one way we can share that message,” a spokesperson said.
Miles argued that most people would miss the disclaimer when scrolling.
The LNP spokesperson said Labor had also uploaded AI-generated videos to social media.
“Steven Miles knows AI is a tool commonly used by many creators on this platform, and [he] knows his own party has used it,” the spokesperson said.
The use of AI during elections has raised questions about integrity globally amid fears it will generate misinformation.
In a submission to an inquiry into the technology this year, the Australian Electoral Commission said it was focused on the potential impact of AI on “electoral integrity and citizen trust”.
“The AEC is doing what we can to continue to monitor developments with this new and emerging threat,” it said.
AAP