Cape Town — The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is ready to combat misinformation from artificial intelligence (AI) ahead of the upcoming national and provincial elections.
The 2024 Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum identified AI-generated misinformation and disinformation as the second biggest global risk after extreme weather. With more than four billion people set to take part in elections in India, the USA, the UK and South Africa, politicians and voters are urged to stay on high alert, IOL reported.
The rapid rise of AI empowered deepfakes poses a big threat to the integrity of the election process and it pose major risks in the run-up to elections, both in the UK and South Africa. Voters need to be aware of this risk and be proactive about mitigating their impact.
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According to Mawethu Mosery, IEC deputy chief electoral officer of outreach, said the commission would partner with different stakeholders to fight the new deep fake threat, which threatens the integrity of elections throughout the world, The Citizen reported.
The IEC is set to collaborate with tech companies and assist with interventions. He added it will collaborate with Media Monitoring Africa to launch an initiative called Padre. This initiative allows voters to fact-check information regarding South African political parties and their recent statements.
Deepfakes have improved drastically in recent years making them more convincing and difficult to identify. Two previous incidents involving African Union chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have caused major problems in the past.
“Deepfakes pose major risks in the run-up to elections, both in the UK and South Africa. Voters need to be aware of this risk and be proactive about mitigating their impact,” Anna Collard, a content strategy expert at KnowBe4 Africa, said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
