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.
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 social media platforms began using it in their algorithm systems 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.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) says 99 per cent of Australians have internet access.
This makes sharing information and getting our news simple: almost half of us get our news from social media, according to a University of Canberra study, while 60 per cent of Gen Zs rely on social media as their main news source.
Even though Australia’s legal voting age is 18, young people who are likely to vote in the following election are concerned.
“If I hear about something going on in the world, it will be through a friend who’s heard it on social media, or it will be hearing it on social media myself,” Freddie, 15, says.
Miles agrees.
” Yeah, I get most of my news from social media, or from a friend who’s heard it from social media,” he says.
Friends (from left) Freddie, 15, Miles, 14, Arthur, 13, and Max, 14, spoke to BTN High about their concerns with AI. (BTN High: Joseph Baronio)
Ellie, 14, says she “sometimes gets news from social media”.
“I use mainly Tiktok, but sometimes I float around on Instagram or Snapchat or anything like that,” she says.
But how can we tell what we’re seeing on social media is the real deal with the election coming up?
Eliza, aged 23, says it’s hard to discern what’s AI-generated political content.
Eliza, 23, says AI makes it hard to sort fact from fiction sometimes. (BTN High: Joseph Baronio)
“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,” she says.
Australian Electoral Commission state manager Cameron Stokes says AI is relatively new technology but it’s emerging “very rapidly”.
Cameron Stokes from the Australian Electoral Commission. (BTN High: Joseph Baronio)
“It has popped up in election campaigns over the past 12 months, both here and overseas,” Mr Stokes says.
“This coming federal election will be the first time in Australia we’ve seen it used in a more prominent way.“
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What’s real and what’s not?
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 avatar called AI Steve ran in the general election.
And in Indonesia, political party Golkar used AI to create a deepfake video of former president Suharto 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 an adorable, chubby avatar. He won the election.
Not all AI used in elections is bad though. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi uses AI to translate his speeches in real time, so that more people can connect.
Mr Stokes says the challenge for Australian voters will be to decide what’s true.
“The AEC doesn’t have a role in determining what’s true in political advertising, that’s absolutely the role of the voter,” he says.
Aazeen, aged 15, spoke of her concerns to BTN High. (BTN High: Joseph Baronio)
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 Aaseen.
Researchers from the RECapture project found videos on the Chinese social media platform RedNote targeting Australian politicians, with AI-generated videos of Peter Dutton supposedly speaking fluent Mandarin saying he intends to deport Chinese Australians.
‘It’s getting harder to tell’
Sam, 14, (left) with Aston, 15, predicts it will get harder to tell what’s real as AI advances in technology. (BTN High: Joseph Baronio)
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
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. — Freddie, 15
It could influence a small part of the population, but I can’t see it really changing the whole side. — Aston, 15
AI isn’t really that advanced, but I’m guessing in the future it will become more realistic and harder to tell. — Sam, 14
Eliza, 23, thinks AI has gotten a little bit out of hand at this point, but other young people aren’t that concerned.
It is getting worryingly good, but I don’t think it’s good enough to really trick anyone about anything important. — Max, 14
I feel like AI is very inconsistent, like photos or speeches and stuff. — Ellie, 14
Right now, it’s not that big of a threat. But I think, in a few years, maybe even three years, it could be a lot bigger threat than it is now. — Miles, 14
Ethan, 13, (right) with 14-year-old friends Sienna and Ellie, says AI “is getting good”. (BTN High: Joseph Baronio)
‘Keep thinking’
Robert, 32, feels a lot of people are losing their basic judgement and critical thinking when it comes to social media.
“We’re focusing on something fun instead of thinking,” he says.
Robert, aged 32, says it’s important to think about what you see. (BTN High: Joseph Baronio)
“Without thinking, we don’t know which is right, which is wrong, which is true, which is false, and will be misled.“
What about the facts?
AAP FactCheck recently confirmed it 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.
But with Meta dumping independent fact-checking organisations, how can we be sure we’re getting factual information on social media?
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.
“Stop and think about the source of that material. Is that a source that they can trust?” he says.
“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.”