Elections are being held in around 70 countries around the world this year, including the USA and Austria. In June, we will elect a new EU Parliament. However, technological developments, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, are a cause for concern and could take the problem of political disinformation to a new level.
For example, in manipulative deepfake videos, politicians can be made to say any nonsense in their own voices - sounding deceptively real - without any great technical effort. AI-controlled chatbots are already being used in election campaigns to contact potential voters. The Kremlin has specialised in various methods of disinformation for years. The aim is to sow distrust in the West, strengthen radical elements and destroy trust in moderate democratic governments.
Matrix asked how well Austria and the European Union are prepared for targeted disinformation campaigns around the elections. Ö1 visited Helmut Leopold, Head of the Center for Digital Safety & Security at AIT, whose team of AI and data science experts is working on digital tools to enable media and journalists to check online information for credibility or, in the case of criminal law aspects, to support authorities in taking appropriate action and, for example, to preserve technical evidence.
Listen to the audio clip here (German).