An AI-generated video posted by Victorian Labor depicts Liberal leader Jess Wilson warning that a heart attack would cost $150,000 under “Americanised healthcare”. Wilson did not make the statement shown in the video, which appeared on Labor’s social media accounts on Saturday ahead of this month’s state election.
The clip shows a synthetic version of Wilson holding a bill listing purported costs for a heart attack, an ambulance and childbirth. It also features One Nation’s Victorian leader, Warren Pickering, wearing a Liberal party badge.
The video draws on comments Wilson made at a press conference last month, after announcing a $1.27bn plan for private hospitals to carry out public elective surgeries. Asked whether it was bad to “Americanise” Victoria’s health system, she replied, “Not at all,” and said a similar approach was being used in Queensland and had previously been implemented by a Labor government.
Premier Ben Carroll defended Labor’s video on Wednesday, saying Wilson’s remarks should alarm voters. Wilson called it a “desperate smear campaign” and said the Liberals were not seeking to Americanise Victoria’s healthcare system. The Liberal campaign dismissed the video as “garbage”.
The Liberals have also used AI-generated material, including videos depicting Carroll asleep at his desk. The posts followed a 24 October Herald Sun report citing unnamed sources who accused the Labor leader of napping at work. A source in Labor’s campaign headquarters said the Liberals “threw the first brick” with that video.
AI-generated election content has also appeared outside the major parties. Conservative lobby group Advance Australia released a video depicting a fabricated Labor election victory, while a video shown at One Nation’s campaign launch included inflammatory ethnic stereotypes.
Transparency International Australia chief executive Clancy Moore said such material risked further damaging public confidence in politics and democracy. Media researcher Timothy Koskie of the University of Sydney said AI made it easier to present misleading political arguments convincingly, and argued that those responsible should face consequences. He suggested even small penalties could help discourage misconduct.
Moore is calling for Victoria and the federal government to introduce truth-in-political-advertising laws, which are already in place in the ACT and South Australia. South Australia’s rules prohibit certain AI-generated deepfake election ads depicting actions a person did not perform without their permission, with penalties of up to $5,000. Ads using AI must also be labelled.
Moore said Victorian parties should at least use AI watermarks to alert voters. Of the videos cited, only Advance Australia’s included a disclaimer saying its imagined election-night scenario had been created with AI.
The Greens plan to call on the next Victorian government to adopt South Australia-style rules. State leader Ellen Sandell said voters should be able to know that what political parties show and say is real, and urged parties to agree to campaign standards that rule out deceptive AI content.
Sources: The Guardian Technology.