David Pocock calls for election ban on AI deepfakes with fake videos of Albanese and Dutton | Artificial Intelligence (AI)

David Pocock has warned of the risk that generative AI poses to democracy by exploiting it for a trick: he fabricated a video of Anthony Albanese announcing a complete ban on gambling advertising.

The independent senator for Canberra posted two AI-generating videos on social media – one from the Prime Minister and one from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who advocate a complete advertising ban – to show how AI can be used to imitate and confuse.

“The video is fake and there are currently no laws against the creation of such videos,” Pocock said.

“Deepfakes [and] Generative AI poses a real risk to democracy and we must force the government to ban the use of this technology in elections.”

In one of these videos, Albanese appears to be declaring at a press conference in Parliament House – with slightly jerky mouth movements that slightly reveal that it is not a real video – that he will introduce a phased ban on advertising over the next three years.

In another scene, Dutton appears to tell an audience that the Coalition supports the government's legislation.

This is not true, and Pocock has chosen a controversial topic to copy. The government has only committed to a partial ban on gambling advertising, which supporters have described as “manifestly inadequate”.

The move towards a partial ban came despite a cross-party committee of inquiry chaired by the late Labour MP Peta Murphy having already proposed a full ban for 2023.

Pocock said he made the videos to urge Parliament to take action to ban the use of the technology before the next election.

“I am concerned that we do not see the urgency needed to protect our democracy from generative AI.”

In July, an AI-generated TikTok video of Queensland Premier Steven Miles, created by the LNP opposition, sparked a debate about the political use of deep fakes online.

The video shows Miles dancing beneath a caption that reads: “POV: My rent went up $60 a week, my electric bill went up 20%, but the Prime Minister made a sandwich on TikTok.”

Miles claimed the video “represents a turning point for our democracy” and said the state's Labor Party would not use AI-generated ads in the upcoming election campaign.

After the video was released, experts warned that people could easily fall for AI-generated content and that it could be even more dangerous if used more subtly.

A spokesman for the office of Don Farrell, the special minister responsible for overseeing parliamentary affairs, said the government was reviewing the Australian Electoral Commission's recommendation to regulate the use of AI in elections.

“We cannot stop this technology – it will not go away,” the spokesman said.

“We need to find a way to protect Australians from deliberately false information and content.”