with Almira Louise S. MartinezA reporter
Fake videos, photos, and audio powered by artificial intelligence (AI) could cause problems in the 2025 Philippine elections, an international technology company said.
“Some of the deep stuff that’s being put out there is funny, but it’s a real problem,” said International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) Vice President APAC, Government, and Regulatory Affairs Stephen Braim in a virtual interview on Monday.
According to Mr. Braim, deepfakes have been widely used during elections in different countries such as the United States and Taiwan.
“They had a big problem with one of their neighbors using deepfakes to try to influence the election,” he said of the 2024 presidential election in Taiwan.
The world’s astronauts and creators have been common victims of deepfakes during the election. “Their deep delusions are being used in political advertising and to hijack them as content creators,” said Mr. Bram.
In IndiaBollywood actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh were used in viral deep fake videos criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the general elections.
Additionally, an old video of Home Minister Amit Shah was edited using a basic editing tool called ‘cheap fake’ with a political plan against the ruling party at the time.
Despite the familiar faces, even the general public can experience the damaging effects of misuse of AI. “Many of these things are used to trick people into withdrawing money from what they think is a family member,” Mr. Brai.m said.
Despite the dangerous consequences it may cause in the political sphere, adequate safeguards are not yet available to protect the people.
“There is no silver bullet technology that will be able to handle deepfakes, be it in the Philippines or anywhere in the world,” he told BusinessWorld.
Mr. Braim said the government is involved in regulating and holding users and developers of deepfakes accountable for their actions. “We think that regulation should be in place more to protect elections from the use of deepfakes.”
He added that user trust is an important part of the AI era of productivity. With all the negative effects of AI, Mr. Braim said it undermines people’s trust in technology that could be useful for productivity, growth, and health outcomes.
“You know the list is endless. We must put aside its misuse,” he said.
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