AI “resurrects” long-dead dictators in a vague new era of deepfake elections

CNN
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A once-feared army general who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for more than 30 years has sent a message to voters from beyond the grave ahead of the upcoming election.

“I am Suharto, Indonesia’s second president,” the former general says in a three-minute video that has more than 4.7 million views on X and spread to TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.

It’s a little convincing at first, but it’s clear that the stern-looking man in the video is not the former Indonesian president. The real Suharto, nicknamed the “Smiling General” because he was always seen with a smile despite his ruthless leadership style, died in 2008 at the age of 86.

The video is an AI-generated deepfake, created using tools that replicate Suharto’s face and voice. “This video was made to remind us how important our votes are in the upcoming elections,” said Erwin Aksa, vice chairman of Golkar, one of Indonesia’s largest and oldest political parties. Ta. He first shared video X ahead of the February 14th election.

The party is one of 18 parties participating in this year’s election, which will see more than 200 million voters head to the polls. Golkar has not fielded its own presidential candidate, but is backing its front-runner Prabowo Subianto, a former army general under Suharto’s military-backed government and his former son-in-law.

Mr. Golkar’s intentions were clear by bringing a long-dead leader back to life weeks before the vote. The aim is to encourage voters to support the party that is synonymous with Suharto.

“As a member of Golkar, I am very proud of Mr. Suharto because he succeeded in developing Indonesia,” Aksa wrote to X. We have to respect that and remember his deeds that Golkar was there. ”

However, online critics specifically condemned the practice of using the faces and voices of the dead for political propaganda. “This is the current state of our country today: they are bringing back a dead dictator to trick us and scare us into voting,” one Indonesian wrote to X.

“Since when did it become ethical to create deepfakes from dead people? It feels morally wrong,” said another.

The online world plays a big role in Indonesian politics. In a country with one of the highest internet usage rates in the world, nearly every political party and politician maintains a strong presence on social media to gather followers and influence.

“Deepfakes have the potential to significantly impact the way election campaigns are conducted and their outcomes,” said Golda Benjamin, Asia-Pacific campaign manager at US digital rights nonprofit Access Now.

“The danger is how quickly it spreads. Deepfakes can easily reach millions of people in seconds and sway and manipulate (millions of) voters.”

Ahead of this year’s vote, many major political parties have turned to AI and used various deepfakes to gain political advantage, observers told CNN.

They said the Suharto video produced by Golkar was just one of dozens featured in official party campaigns.

In response to public criticism, the campaign team of Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s current defense minister and three-time presidential candidate, created a cute animation of the leader on TikTok to appeal to younger voters. He admitted to using AI software to transform himself. Indonesians under the age of 40, who number approximately 114 million voters, account for the majority of votes.

In another video that drew heavy criticism, the party used AI-generated children in TV commercials to circumvent rules banning children from appearing in political campaigns.

“The technology being used is very sophisticated…mistaking[the children]for real characters,” Prabowo’s nephew and spokesman for the nationalist right-wing Gerindra party, Budisatorio Ziwandono, said after the call for advertisements. I can understand if there were people there,” he said in a statement. According to monitoring groups.

Former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo’s party has adopted a conversational AI chatbot to engage with potential voters. AI photos created by his supporters were also used by Gunjal’s party in his election campaign. CNN has reached out to representatives of Gunjar. The Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) has been contacted for comment.

A third presidential candidate, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, is using an OpenAI-powered chatbot in her campaign that answers questions about her policies on WhatsApp. He warned against the use of AI in elections after becoming the victim of an audio deepfake in January. A fabricated conversation in which Mr. Áñez is said to have been accused by his political backers has gone viral online.

“We have to be critical, because now we have AI technology that can produce audio and video that looks real,” Áñez said at a campaign rally later that month.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications has issued an advisory after several AI videos went viral, warning tech companies and voters to be wary of deepfakes. But watchdog groups told CNN that efforts are still not enough.

Jakarta-based nonprofit organization TAPP (Tim Advocasi Peduri Pemil) said videos like the Suharto deepfake show the potential for voter manipulation by AI.

“The government has not yet recognized the dangers of deepfakes,” said spokesperson Gugam Ridh Putra.

“We know what AI is capable of, and this is just the beginning,” he added. “We are concerned that voters will be manipulated, especially when elections are so close.”

Suharto’s 32-year dictatorship is considered by international human rights groups to be one of the most corrupt and brutal eras in Indonesia’s history.

Under his rule, thousands of people were imprisoned or killed as he cracked down on critics and political opponents and enforced his regime’s control over East Timor, Aceh, West Papua and the Maluku Islands.

Discussion of his rule remains taboo in Indonesia, and opinions about his legacy are mixed.

But in places like Kemsk, a village near Yogyakarta where he was born, his image is everywhere, from museum memorabilia celebrating his life to souvenir T-shirts emblazoned with his smiling face. there is.now He rose to fame again online.

“The virality of this video speaks volumes about his accomplishments and shows how important he is to Indonesia today,” said Indonesian writer and composer and academic at SOAS, University of London. So Jen Martin said. “It’s been many years since he passed away, but he still has a lot of supporters,” she added. “His ghost still lingers.”

But for people like Anton Pratama, 55, a former military officer who grew up during the Suharto era, the return of the dictator was “disarming.”

“It wasn’t so important that we were reunited and that I believed he was still alive,” Anton told CNN, adding that his son showed him the video. “What is concerning is that Suharto and his ideology are once again gaining popularity in the country.”