It’s how fast you get it out: Content creators have to be quick and creative in order for their content to be effective during election campaigns. — ART CHEN/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Advanced chatbots and apps have made it easier for even the most novice of content creators to generate election campaign materials, but this has also caused concerns of artificial intelligence (AI) being misused.
Some content creators claim that the toxic and defamatory AI-generated content during election campaigns is usually not party-endorsed but made voluntarily by party “vigilantes”.
Content creator Ramli Ali said even before ChatGPT became popular, he had been using AI to assist him in creating visuals of politicians.
“For political campaigning, AI content can be generated easily. All you have to do is request whatever you want from the app.
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“Then, you just have to add finishing touches to the images and your watermark to make it yours.
“AI-generated content is legal. The question is whether the content is ethical or morally acceptable to all parties.
“Election campaigns can be very vicious, with personal attacks and defamatory remarks. We content creators have to be careful to ensure that we do not cross the line.
“Professional content creators know the moral lines not to be crossed,” said Ramli, adding that most content creators using AI-generated content work in the shadows.
(While AI-generated content is still legal, there are many lawsuits going on in the United States and Europe, filed by creators who say their copyrighted works were used without their permission to “train” AI tools).
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Another content creator, who wanted to be known only as Tan, said creators have to be quick but creative to make sure their content is effective during election campaigns.
“Time is short during by-elections. The defensive content is what we have to come up with instantly. There is no time to waste, or the rival will have the upper hand,” he said.
Tan said the “cheap and defamatory ones” are not done by content creators but by party supporters who get ahead of themselves and do not follow any guidelines.
While AI content is being used to vie for voter attention, political party leaders in charge of social media campaigning for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election said content creators cannot do as they please.
PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil, who is also Communications Minister, said he will not hesitate to crack the whip on those who misuse AI to propagate hate.
“There are many scams which mislead the people, apart from those posts that defame and spread lies,” he said.
He added that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has been directed to take action against these.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the party has a special team of lawyers monitoring content posted by its rivals, including parties in the government, during campaigning.
“We have a team headed by information chief Datuk Seri Azalina Othman,” he said when contacted, referring to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms).
An Umno official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party has guidelines that any materials used in attacking rivals must not be unethical or breach the law.
DAP national publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching had also said that she believes there will be more fake accounts impersonating party candidates or leaders to spread disinformation and hate speech during the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.
“Pang Sock Tao’s candidacy was announced on Wednesday. Yesterday, someone used her photos to create a fake account on Facebook,” she said.
Teo, who is also Deputy Communications Minister, said with the help of AI, generating content has become easy.
Selangor PAS information chief Zurk Ahmad said the party is very careful with what its content creators post on social media as it has many political enemies.
“Among the guidelines given to content creators are that all content must be in line with party principles, uphold people’s priorities, and be based on facts, not perceptions.
“PAS uses AI on a small scale to assist our campaigners and party volunteers to speed up their production.
“Overall, PAS uses more ‘human intelligence’, using big data analysis and data engineering that is geared towards information. PAS has a specific workforce for each task,” he added.
Zurk said the party also constantly monitors all social media platforms on any issue that has to do with PAS.
“We have a legal team that is always prepared to take action should there be political exaggeration,” he said.
