New Zealand’s opposition National party has admitted using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate fake images for its political attack ads. The ads featured AI-generated images of a group of robbers storming a simulated jewellery store, two nurses of Pacific Island descent in a Wes Anderson cinematic aesthetic, and a crime victim gazing solemnly out of a window. Another ad was an AI approximation of a poster for The Fast and the Furious franchise, the cast’s likenesses devolved into generic faces, like something you might see on sweatshirts or lunchboxes in a short-lease tat shop.
Questioned on whether the images had been created by AI, National Party leader Christopher Luxon was caught flat-footed. His initial demurrals had the ironic effect of sounding like they themselves were generated by faulty AI:
‘I don’t know about the topic in the sense of I am not sure. You are making an accusation that we are using it, I am not sure that we are.
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