The next federal election will face unprecedented challenges from AI-generated content and fake news, Australia’s top election official has warned.
The Australian Electoral Commission has said it expects AI-generated misinformation at the next federal election, potentially from overseas actors, but warned that it doesn’t have the tools to detect or deter it.
A parliamentary committee into artificial intelligence heard on Monday that the new technology could pose risks to “democracy itself”, with concerns voters might encounter deepfakes and voice clones of Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton before the next poll.
The AEC commissioner, Tom Rogers, told the hearing the new technology had “amazing productivity benefits” but noted “widespread examples” in recent elections – in Pakistan, the United States, Indonesia and India – of deceptive content generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
