Senator Malcolm Byrne has said artificial intelligence (AI) will be a central issue in the next general election and urged political parties to agree to a code of conduct to avoid it being misused.
The newly established independent Electoral Commission will oversee the next general election, and Mr Byrne said that AI should be one of its top priorities.
The Wexford Fianna Fáil senator told BreakingNews.ie: "I have no doubt that in the same way we have seen social media impacting positively and negatively on the democratic processes, artificial intelligence is just going to turbocharge that impact.
"I would hope that you won't see political parties starting to use deep fakes, that you can have robust debate based on evidence and facts. There are always going to be those who try to play outside the rules, or massage the rules, so there is a role there for the Electoral Commission.
"I think there is also an obligation on all of us to become much more digitally literate. When people look at videos or information online to ask 'where is this coming from? Is it real? Who is putting it out there?'"
He pointed to the fact that deepfakes have already become quite common and convincing. "You can imagine in the middle of an election or referendum campaign where a political leader purports to say something, and it may seem a little bit outrageous. If people see it on a screen it could be shared thousands of times before the truth comes out that it is a deepfake.
"A couple of days before a vote, that could have very serious consequences. Technology is obviously going to work towards trying to watermark AI, and provide clear indications that something is AI-generated and that the user can see that, but there will always be ways around that.
"In terms of our democracy it's important that people get proper information not things that are AI-generated and misleading."
Deepfakes
While he acknowledged there is no way to completely eliminate misinformation and disinformation, Mr Byrne said that voice recognition artificial technology is a big worry along with deepfakes.
Democracy is a valuable thing, but it can also be damaged very easily.
"It can listen to someone's voice and within a matter of seconds pick up the tone and talk with their voice and be able to effectively pretend it is that person. That will be a challenge for everybody in the same way traditional media, television, radio, print media, have particular obligations at election time. It's very difficult to extend that to content we consume digitally.
"Political parties have a responsibility, the new independent Electoral Commission that has been established will have a big role, the technology companies have to step up to the plate and try to combat misuse of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.
"The role of the Electoral Commission is not just administering elections independently and fairly, it's about protecting their integrity. Democracy is a valuable thing, but it can also be damaged very easily. Anything that could call into question the integrity of our elections needs to be challenged. If AI is used for malign purposes the Electoral Commission has to be on top of it.
"I have spoken to a number of social media and technology companies, they are very aware of this challenge not just in Ireland but in other democracies as well."
Other countries
Mr Byrne said we can learn from other countries, pointing to an advert from the Republican National Committee in the United States which created a simulated vision of what a second Joe Biden term would look like.
"They did declare this, so it was legitimate, but it used AI to show what they believed a second Joe Biden term would look like. The technology is already having an impact is areas like advertising, and it will impact on politics and democracy as well."
Mr Byrne said there isn't necessarily anything wrong with this, however, he feels parties need to be in agreement on being transparent around AI use.
"I think the concern is around where AI can spread misinformation and disinformation. I do not believe it is a bad thing, like any new technology it can be transformative in good ways in all of our lives, but there are certain things we have to protect and that includes our democratic institutions.
“Everybody should play around with it and experiment. It should not be allowed for things like writing policy documents, but it is useful to experiment or to see what it can do. We're at the start of it and this technology will develop and be transformative in many areas."
He said the Electoral Commission should have AI procedures in place for the local and European elections in 2024, and the general election which is due in March 2025.
By James Cox
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