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Deepfakes in an Australian election campaign would be legally fine, and OpenAI benches its flirty new chatbot voice

Deepfakes in an Australian election campaign would be legally fine, and OpenAI benches its flirty new chatbot voice

Hello and welcome to Screenshot, your weekly tech update from national technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre, featuring the best, worst and strangest in tech and online news. Read to the end for an A+ Subreddit recommendation you didn’t know you needed.

Is Australia sleepwalking into a deepfakes election?

As the next federal election draws closer and the deepfakes keep getting better, you should know there are no actual laws against using deepfakes in a political campaign.

The Australian Electoral Commissioner, Tom Rogers, has confirmed as much at parliament’s AI inquiry this week, saying: “It’s lawful … and so whether or not that law changes, it’s a matter for parliament, not for me.”

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To spell it out, if Labor wanted to release a lifelike video of Peter Dutton explaining why he’s a vegan, or if the Coalition posted an equally convincing video of Anthony Albanese announcing a ban on dog ownership, there would be no obvious law impeding them.

I’m not saying either party would do that. I’m also not speculating on what a candidate such as Clive Palmer might consider above or below the belt during a political campaign.

Posted , updated