Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Foreign media highlighted the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the Presidential Election campaign in Indonesia. This is considered a transformation of elections in Indonesia.
One of the Presidential-Vice Presidential Candidate Pairs (Paslon) who used AI in campaigning was candidate pair number 02 Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka. In fact, the use of AI in various campaign posters spread across Indonesia has made various people 'intrigued' by an expression called 'Gemoy' which is slang for cute.
One of them, Fika Juliana Putri, a 19-year-old shopkeeper in East Jakarta, plans to vote for the once-feared former special forces commander in next week's Indonesian presidential election. He liked her, he said, because she was 'gemoy'.
“I chose him because he's cool, that's the main reason,” said Fika, quoted by Reuters, quoted on Thursday (8/2/2024).
Meanwhile, a cartoon version of General Prabowo Subianto with rabbit eyes was depicted using generative AI and appeared on billboards throughout Indonesia. The photo was reproduced on T-shirts and stickers, and featured prominently in posts tagged #Prabowo that were viewed some 19 billion times on TikTok.
For your information, Prabowo is the Indonesian Minister of Defense. But on social media, his chubby-cheeked AI avatar made Korean-style finger gestures and cradled his beloved cat, Bobby, to the delight of Gen Z voters.
The Feb. 14 general election in Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, will provide a glimpse of how generative AI could transform large-scale political campaigns, experts say.
The AI-generated cartoon was central to the election rebrand for Prabowo, who is far ahead in opinion polls. Instead of portraying himself as a fiery nationalist, as he did in his two previous failed presidential bids, the 72-year-old's new slogan is 'gemoy'.
Campaign Art
Prabowo and his “twin” created using technology from US company Midjourney Inc, are leading hundreds of candidates in using generative AI tools to create campaign art, track social media sentiment, build interactive chatbots and target voters.
Prabowo's campaign team and Midjourney, whose guidelines prohibit its use for political campaigns, did not respond to requests for comment.
“This is the first election we've seen leveraging these tools at scale,” said Katie Harbath, who until 2021 served as top election policy officer at Meta (META.O), opens a new tab and now writes a newsletter about technology and democracy.
Harbath expressed himself surprised that AI tools had been adopted in Indonesia's campaign so quickly, saying it was too early to assess the overall electoral impact of this unprecedented and innovative use of technology.
They describe vendors and campaigns that are pushing the boundaries of guidelines issued by providers like Midjourney and generative AI market leader OpenAI.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has not yet formulated binding regulations regarding the use of AI tools.
With countries home to a third of the world's population set to vote this year, including the United States and India, India's election is a test for how OpenAI will police its policies, according to seven lobbyists and political experts.
Many of the AI tools used in Indonesia's elections are powered by OpenAI, nine senior campaign staffers told Reuters. That includes Prabowo's platforms, according to his digital team coordinator.
Prohibition of AI for Political Campaign Use
ChatGPT's owner, based in San Francisco, last month announced rules banning its use for political campaigns amid global fears of AI interference in elections. This includes a ban on creating images of real people, including politicians.
OpenAI said it was investigating chatbots and political tools identified by Reuters in Indonesia using its technology. It said an initial review found no evidence that the tools were used in the election and that it was committed to transparency and increasing accurate information.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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