Election candidates trying to impress voters by using artificial intelligence could be a form of dishonest campaigning, Senator Francis Tolentino stressed on Saturday.
The senator lamented, “The issue of using artificial intelligence in the election campaign and propaganda materials and requested further study for future policy formulation as apps that change facial impressions of individuals proliferate that may violate the principle of truthfulness.”
Tolentino believes that using AI in campaign paraphernalia should be covered by the Commission on Elections.
He said he looks forward to Comelec policy “regarding the use of AI in producing campaign and software materials for the elections, especially on the question of what picture must be allowed: the candidate looks at present or the looks the voters wanted to see.”
The senator then cited the Department of National Defense memorandum, which was made public on Friday, prohibiting its employees and military personnel from using AI image generator applications.
In his order, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr warned that AI-powered applications seemed “harmless and amusing” but could be “maliciously used” to create fake profiles that can lead to identity theft, social media engineering, phishing attacks, and other erring activities which compromise someone’s personal data.
Comelec Commissioner Rey Bulay backed Tolentino’s suggestion, but he noted that the green light to impose the AI restrictions in the coverage of campaign materials will still be up to the consensus of the poll body’s chairperson and other commissioners.
Bulay added that those guidelines and policies on the use of AI in producing election materials, whether printed or digital in form, could be put in place for the 2025 mid-term elections.
He emphasized that AI usage might fall under the election guidelines on “misrepresentation” but also stressed that he doesn’t “want to preempt my chairman and fellow commissioners.”
“Pero napakaganda po ng iyong sinabi Pwede pong humabol yon sa 2025 (It can be timed in 2025),” Bulay told Tolentino.
“The concept of misrepresentation is also included in the principle of truth in advertising…something along this line,” he added.