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Jokowi deepfakes? Fears grow over AI-generated election hoaxes
An artificial intelligence-generated recording of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo singing “Asmalibrasi,” a song by Semarang-based act Soegi Bornean, went viral in April, fueling concerns of potential proliferation of AI-generated misinformation in the lead up of 2024 general election.
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AI hype: Artificial intelligence (AI) words are seen in this illustration taken on March 31. AI has been used in various areas of life, including education. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)
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ditya Ilyas Saputra, lead guitarist of the band Soegi Borneon, was amused when he heard that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had covered the band’s hit single, “Asmalibrasi,” only to learn that it was in fact the work of artificial intelligence (AI).
“I was surprised, thinking that Pak Jokowi was actually singing the song ‘Asmalibrasi’, but it turns out it was produced by AI,” he said as quoted by insertlive.com.
The AI cover of the wildly popular song by Jokowi was uploaded on Twitter on April 28 and drew more than 5 million views, more than 10,000 retweets and more than 37,000 likes. It also went viral on Tik Tok, a popular platform among first-time voters, with more than 188,000 likes and more than 5,000 comments.
Such a fake cover is not unusual in the age of AI, which has been compared to the industrial revolution and thus predicted to change not only industries, but also politics as we know it. While listening to an AI-produced voice of Paul Mccartney covering the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” or of Kurt Cobain singing Radiohead’s “Creep” may evoke a strange nostalgia, having an influential politician sing a pop song may in fact stoke fears that the new technology could be used for spreading misinformation.
Dozens of AI covers featuring Jokowi singing popular songs such as Fifty-Fifty’s “Cupid” or JKT48’s “Seventeen” have already been uploaded on YouTube. One Twitter user, @khvfl_, posted a deepfake video swapping the face of Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner with that of Jokowi, and changing the former’s voice to that of the latter.
What else can AI do in the lead up to the 2024 general election?
@dhamz._ Membalas @fixxx_07 nii bang #aicover #fyp #jokowi #asmalibrasi ♬ ASMALIBRASI _ ALI XD - ZAIN.444 [LM]
