Panellist worries about misuse of AI in GE16

A panellist at the FreedomFilmFest screening on decoding radicalisation expressed worries over artificial intelligence’s (AI) role in the 16th general election.

JomCheck Malaysia editor Imran Noordin said at this juncture, AI is already being used to spread misinformation.

“So I believe if this is happening while we are in a kind of calm time, the same technology will also be used, for trigger-related events, and this is very scary for me,” he said.

Trigger events include elections as they can be a time of division, said counterterrorism analyst Munira Mustaffa, another panellist.

Imran referred to the last general election, during which a video depicting men riding horses with the flags of political parties circulated.

The then Penang police chief Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain confirmed the 20-second footage, warning the public against making assumptions.

Creating fear

Imran also cited videos that, during GE15, attempted to create fear of another May 13 incident, referring to the deadly racial riots that took place in Kuala Lumpur in 1969.

Fellow panellist and Faqcheck project director Khalil Majeed spoke about another video that circulated during GE15 which claimed that a picture taken at a Taiwanese event was that of ethnic Chinese and DAP taking over Kelantan.

“Basically that video was from 2021, I think it was, and it was from Taiwan.

“There was a Taiwanese flag on the corner, but no one realised it, no one was paying attention to it,” he said.

The religious trigger

People do not bother to fact-check when they see something that aligns with their own biases, he explained.

Prior to his fact check of the video, he saw comments from people worried about Kelantan falling to DAP.

“They were saying, oh no, we should start something, we need to stop the Chinese, what have you done, and you know, all the slurs were coming out,” he said.

Besides that, Imran explained that the biggest issues that arise during an election are discussions on who is a Malaysian and who will protect Islam better.

Most of the fact-check requests his team receives are religion-related, he added.

“For me, I think the biggest trigger point that can impact our society is religion,” he said.

During GE15, the Centre for Independent Journalism monitored social media platforms for hate speech.

It found that religious narratives became the main divisive and polarising tool.

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