Synthetic images and electoral manipulation
An interesting and well-documented article in The New York Times, titled “A.I.’s use in elections sets off a scramble for guardrails,” raises the intriguing question of using synthetically created images to illustrate political messages in election campaigns.
The image accompanying this article was created by the conservative New Zealand National Party and serves as a clear example: a synthetic generative image of a group of masked thieves robbing a jewelry store. The image does not aim to deceive anyone; its synthetic nature is relatively easy to detect. However, it achieves its purpose: evoking fears and generating a specific mental image that, in the minds of many voters, appeals to their worst fears and is impossible to erase.
Similarly, we have seen synthetic images in the mayoral campaign of Anthony Furey in Toronto, a conservative candidate who uses algorithmically generated illustrations to depict a dystopian perspective of his city ravaged by poverty or homeless individuals camping in public parks. We also see this in the campaigns of American Republicans, who create videos illustrating through algorithms what they claim would be a future of war with China invading Taiwan, immigrants freely entering through the Mexican border, hundreds of banks collapsing, and waves of crime in the streets.
