September, Thursday 19, 2024

Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, employed artificial intelligence strategies to run his political campaign while incarcerated.


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Imran Khan's political party in Pakistan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has used an artificial intelligence (AI) voice clone of him to campaign from prison. Despite having his three-year corruption sentence suspended in August, Khan remains in jail. The PTI used AI technology to create an audio clip for an internet "virtual rally" by generating a speech from text written by Khan in prison and approved by his lawyers. The audio message was played over an AI-generated image that appeared to be speaking. However, internet disruptions during the streaming raised concerns about transparency surrounding the upcoming elections. The PTI said the event was viewed by six million people across YouTube, X, and Facebook. Khan's media adviser accused the interim government of slowing down the internet across the country to reduce the outreach of the online political rally. Since his removal from power, Khan has faced over 100 charges, including leaking state secrets and organizing violent protests, which he claims are politically motivated.