Milei or Massa? Nobody knows who will win Argentina’s elections, the most contentious in the country’s recent history. But one winner can already be identified: artificial intelligence, which is used extensively in the campaign and always to emphasize the negative image of the opponent.
Massa released a video with animated characters that recreates a historical and traumatic episode: the sinking of a cruiser during the Falklands War, in which 323 Argentines were killed. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher appears and gives the order to attack, and then Milei’s voice sounds, saying that Thatcher was one of humanity’s great leaders. The ultraright candidate’s supporters responded with another video in which Massa “appears” snorting cocaine the recording was edited so that the Peronist’s face appears in an image showing a man using the drug.
Imagine it was in Brazil. And if we were in 2022, at the height of the race for the Palácio do Planalto. Deepfake a tool capable of fitting anyone’s faces and voices into the desired context would come and go. The least we would have expected would be to see Lula drinking at the Complexo do Alemão Pitu and Bolsonaro distributing soup to an army of communists dressed as Thanos, or Avenger of the Dragon’s Den.
In October, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso of the STF was in the Chamber of Deputies to defend that digital platforms have “minimum regulation”. He spoke to the wind as most MPs were more interested in updating their social media.
The Fake News PL was discussed extensively at the beginning of the year with more than 30 public hearings, but was ultimately removed from the agenda. It meant a defeat not only for the government but also for Arthur Lira since this vote had taken place. Meanwhile, big tech companies are moving forward. X has a new information verification system that allows for greater spread of… disinformation.