Days before last fall’s national election in Slovakia, an enigmatic voice recording started circulating false information on the internet.
The altered file gave the impression that Michal Simecka, the Progressive Slovakia party’s leader, was having a conversation with a local journalist about purchasing votes. However, the conversation never took place, and the file was subsequently exposed as a “deepfake” hoax.
Simecka was defeated in a close contest on election day by the pro-Kremlin populist candidate Robert Fico.
Even though it’s practically hard to tell if the deepfake file affected the outcome, the incident highlights rising concerns about how artificial intelligence-related products are affecting democracy globally, including in Canada.
“Our concern is that there might be significant foreign intervention that would call into question the results of the election,” said Caroline Xavier, head of Canada’s cyber intelligence organization, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), in an interview with CBC News.
“We are aware that democratic processes are already at risk from misinformation and disinformation. This might contribute to that exaggeration. That is really worrying.
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This year, those worries are being realized globally in what is being called the largest test of democracy in decades.
This year, elections are being held in over 40 countries by billions of people, including the highly anticipated and contentious U.S. presidential race. It is possible that this year or next, Canadians will go to the polls, contingent on how long the Liberal government’s agreement with the NDP lasts.
“I don’t think anybody is really ready,” Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert professor at the University of California-Berkeley, stated.
According to Farid, the intersection of politics and generative AI content poses two major risks. First, it has an impact on politicians’ capacity to reject reality.
“If your prime minister or your president or your candidate gets caught saying something actually offensive or illegal … you don’t have to cop to anything anymore,” he stated.
“That’s worrisome to me, where nobody has to be held accountable for anything they say or do anymore, because there’s the spectre of deepfakes hanging over us.”
