As Queensland premier Steven Miles criticized the opposition Liberal National party (LNP) for posting an AI-generated video of him, calling it a “turning point for our democracy,” the opposition quickly pointed out his federal Labor colleagues had posted Peter Dutton’s video to mock his nuclear policy.
Miles slammed the TikTok video of himself Tuesday, and called out the political party for indulging in creating deepfake videos as a “very dangerous turning point.”
Five days ago, LNP had posted the AI-generated video of Miles with the caption, “POV: my rent is up $60 a week, my power bill is up 20%, but the premier made a sandwich on TikTok,” reported The Guardian.
Miles’ video was posted a month after the Australian Labor Party published a video of Coalition leader Dutton on its TikTok account, marked as AI-generated, with the caption, “dance if you want to build nuclear power plants in everyone’s backyard,” ABC News reported.
Susan Grantham, a communications lecturer at Griffith University, stated Miles’ video was not the first deepfake creation in Australia. She pointed out such videos were used in 2022 as well.
Politicians like Miles were at a greater risk, as he was already using the space to create humorous videos of himself.
“Because they’re already using that space themselves to put this fun, interesting slant on what is ultimately quite important topics, [that] does help with people believing when this kind of AI-driven material is developed,” Grantham said.
With Queensland going to the polls in October, the LNP accused Miles of lying to win votes.
“Steven Miles knows AI is a tool commonly used by many creators on this platform [TikTok] and knows his own party has used it,” an LNP spokesperson said. “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.”
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of Queensland stated there was no regulation that addressed the use of AI, but does “regulate the publication of any false statements of fact regarding the personal character or conduct of a candidate.”
With Queensland going to the polls in October, several surveys have predicted defeat for the ruling Labor Party.
