The posters scattered throughout the streets of Buenos Aires had a distinct Soviet influence in their design.
One of Argentina’s presidential contenders, Sergio Massa, was portrayed wearing a shirt adorned with what seemed to be military decorations, gesturing towards the sky. Surrounded by a crowd of elderly individuals dressed plainly, with solemn and often weathered expressions, they gazed at him with optimism.
This intentional style choice was no accident. The artist had received specific directives.
A prompt provided by Mr. Massa’s campaign to an artificial intelligence program described the illustration as follows: “Sovietic Political propaganda poster illustration by Gustav Klutsis featuring a leader, Massa, standing firmly. Symbols of unity and power fill the environment.” The prompt continued, “The image exudes authority and determination.”
In response, Javier Milei, the opposing candidate in the upcoming election, retaliated by sharing what seemed to be AI-generated images depicting Mr. Massa resembling a Chinese communist leader, and portraying himself as a friendly cartoon lion. These images garnered over 30 million views.
Argentina’s electoral race has swiftly evolved into a testing ground for AI utilization in campaigns, with both candidates and their supporters leveraging the technology to manipulate existing visuals and videos, as well as fabricate new ones.
AI has been employed to make candidates appear to utter statements they never made, place them in famous movies and memes, design campaign posters, and spark debates regarding the authenticity of real videos.
The significant role of AI in Argentina’s political campaign and the ensuing discussions highlight the increasing prevalence of this technology. Its expanding capabilities and decreasing costs indicate that it is likely to play a role in numerous democratic elections worldwide.
This development has drawn parallels to the early days of social media, offering novel political tools while also introducing unforeseen risks.
Mr. Massa’s campaign has developed an AI system capable of generating images and videos featuring key figures in the election, including the candidates, running mates, and political allies, engaging in various activities.
The campaign has utilized AI to depict Mr. Massa, Argentina’s conventional center-left economy minister, as robust, audacious, and charismatic. This includes videos portraying him as a warrior in battle, a Ghostbuster, and Indiana Jones, along with posters reminiscent of Barack Obama’s iconic “Hope” poster and a cover of The New Yorker.
Additionally, the system has been used to portray his rival, Mr. Milei, a far-right libertarian economist and television personality known for his outbursts, as unstable, placing him in films like “Clockwork Orange” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
Numerous AI-generated creations have been evidently fabricated. However, some have blurred the line of misinformation. For instance, the Massa campaign released a “deepfake” video where Mr. Milei discusses the concept of a human organ market, aligning with his libertarian beliefs.
In an interview, Mr. Massa expressed astonishment upon witnessing the capabilities of AI for the first time. He acknowledged the significant challenges posed by this technology and emphasized the need to adapt to this new reality.
The utilization of AI in elections has raised concerns among researchers. The technology’s potential to mislead and bewilder voters, casting doubt on reality and amplifying disinformation spread through social networks, has been a subject of apprehension.
While such fears were previously speculative due to the complexity and cost of creating such fakes, the accessibility and power of democratized AI tools have altered this landscape significantly.
The emergence of AI-generated content in political campaigns has prompted discussions on regulation and transparency. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram now mandate political ads to disclose the use of AI, with potential regulatory measures being considered by the U.S. Federal Election Commission.
The widespread adoption of AI in Argentina’s election has sparked concerns among voters regarding the blurring of reality. Instances where AI-generated content was mistaken for genuine footage have led to a reassessment of the authenticity of information shared during the campaign.
The Massa campaign’s decision to integrate AI was driven by a desire to showcase Peronism’s appeal to young voters by infusing Mr. Massa’s image with elements of popular and meme culture.
By training their own AI system using open-source software, the campaign has empowered itself to swiftly create images and videos featuring prominent political figures engaging in diverse scenarios.
The integration of AI into Argentina’s electoral landscape has not only reshaped campaign visuals but also prompted a reevaluation of what constitutes authentic information in the digital age.
