Incidents like these underscore a pressing challenge: How do we protect the integrity of elections when we can no longer trust what we see?
The 2024 global election cycle marked a turning point for generative AI's role in politics, as concerns over AI-generated deepfakes manipulating elections grew to a fever pitch. In the United States, New Hampshire voters reportedly received a robocall impersonating President Biden, urging them to forgo voting in the state's primary and save their votes for the November general elections - an alarming example of how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used maliciously to suppress votes.
While large-scale AI-driven electoral interference did not fully materialise in 2024, the threat remains. As millions of Singapore citizens prepare to head to the polls this May, the risk of AI-generated disinformation and cyberattacks is at an all-time high, making voter vigilance more important than ever. Singaporean political figures have already been targeted by deepfake technology, such as a manipulated video depicting Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong endorsing a fraudulent investment opportunity that was widely circulated last year.
