How AI could ‘supercharge’ election risks across south-east Asia
Some experts fear AI could be weaponised in south-east Asia, home to nations with predominately young and hyper-connected populations Years ago it would have been an elaborate operation involving any army of cyber troops creating fake news websites, social media accounts and forged dossiers, all deployed to spread disinformation en masse. Now, all you need is AI. Continue reading...
Experts warn that artificial intelligence (AI) could exacerbate election risks in Southeast Asia, a region populated by young and highly connected individuals. In the past, creating fake news entailed a laborious process involving armies of cyber troops developing numerous websites, social media accounts, and forged dossiers to spread misinformation.
However, AI is deemed to "supercharge" fake news, as demonstrated by Anthropic's recent revelation of an AI-based political influence operation in Malaysia. The operation utilized a network of approximately 1,000 X accounts, a fabricated news outlet called "Malaysia Pulse," and fabricated documents. The goal was to target voters in recent state elections and exploit sensitive political and social divisions, including race, religion, and royalty, across all 222 Malaysian parliamentary constituencies.
Although the operation proved ineffective after Anthropic intervened, it has raised concerns about potential future AI-driven election manipulation in Southeast Asia, a region already vulnerable to fake news. Katie Harbath, who previously worked on public policy for global elections at Meta, emphasizes that AI amplifies the sophistication and ease of disinformation.
She states that AI can produce more personalized content at a faster and lower cost. Nonetheless, a distribution mechanism, primarily social media platforms, remains essential. The Anthropic report, released in September, reveals that actors, including governments, state-aligned propaganda institutions and media, and private firms, employed Claude AI to create fake social media profiles and news websites that targeted audiences on six continents.
South-east Asia is no stranger to disinformation. Nobel laureate and Filipino journalist Maria Ressa has likened the Philippines to a "petri dish" for weaponizing disinformation and fake news, with techniques later replicated in the West. Rossine Fallorina of Sigla, a Philippine thinktank researching AI, likens AI to a modern-day "troll factory" that speeds up the content production process.
Last year, OpenAI banned AI-generated comments about Philippine politics, while many fictitious comments supported President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. In Southeast Asia, AI has effectively softened presidential candidates' images (in Indonesia) and inflamed tensions (in Malaysia). The threat assessment emphasizes that AI could "flood the zone" to influence large language models (LLMs), which AI models rely on for information.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Technology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
