AI has made a significant entrance into the Lok Sabha polls through the use of deepfakes and voice cloning, marking a notable shift in political campaigning strategies.
An example of this occurred at a conference organised by a faction of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, where attendees were stunned by the appearance of the late Dravidian icon M Karunanidhi, who materialised on a large screen adorned in his signature attire, offering praise for the current state leadership under his son M K Stalin. However, it's important to note that Karunanidhi passed away in 2018.
As the battle for supremacy in the Lok Sabha polls intensifies, political parties have identified a new tool in their arsenal: leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to generate content shared across various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and others.
This content aims to either promote their candidates, ridicule opponents or disseminate targeted personalised messages to voters.
Experts foresee AI playing an unprecedented role in this election, potentially becoming a decisive factor akin to social media's influence in the 2014 polls. However, the full impact of this disruptive technology on shaping voter opinions remains to be seen.
Since the beginning of the year, political parties, including the BJP and Congress, have shared manipulated content on their official Instagram handles, altered through AI on at least four occasions. These manipulated media, commonly known as deepfakes, typically portray leaders of rival parties in a negative light.
For instance, the BJP shared a deepfake video of Rahul Gandhi on Instagram on March 16, depicting the Congress leader seemingly uttering the words: "I don’t do anything." Furthermore, the BJP released another manipulated video in which AI was utilized to replicate the voices of Opposition leaders Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, and Akhilesh Yadav, among others.
Similarly, the Congress's official Instagram handle shared a deepfake featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face superimposed onto that of Justh, a popular singer known for a song titled "Chor" (thief). The vocals were altered through AI to closely resemble Modi's voice. Moreover, the Congress handle recently shared an altered image of PM Modi facing a poster of a woman wrestler in tears.
In another instance, the official handle of the AIADMK, Tamil Nadu’s primary Opposition party, shared a voice message purportedly by party stalwart J Jayalalithaa, urging people to support its current leader Edappadi Palaniswami. Notably, Jayalalithaa passed away in 2016.
Even ahead of last year's Assembly elections in Telangana, the official handle of the Telangana Congress, known as X, shared a deepfake video of BRS leader KT Rama Rao supposedly urging the public to vote against his party.
Looking ahead, political parties are expected to further utilise AI-generated voice clones of candidates for targeted messaging aimed at wooing voters. This innovative approach allows for a higher level of personalisation, as exemplified by the ability to address voters by name at the beginning of a call, as highlighted by a politician contesting in this year's elections.
In pursuit of leveraging these technologies to their fullest potential, parties have sought the expertise of political consulting companies to navigate the intricacies of AI integration into their campaign strategies.
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