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Scare campaigns: Victoria’s major parties trade blows over AI-generated videos of leaders in election ads
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Victorian Labor has posted an AI-generated video depicting Liberal leader Jess Wilson making false claims about Americanised healthcare. The video shows Wilson warning a heart attack would cost $150,000. Wilson never said those words. Premier Ben Carroll defended it, citing Wilson's own words: "nothing wrong with Americanising our health system."
The video stems from Wilson's $1.27bn plan to pay private hospitals for public elective surgeries. Asked last month about "Americanising" healthcare, Wilson said: "Not at all." Labor's video uses AI to exaggerate that stance. It also shows One Nation's Warren Pickering wearing a Liberal badge.
Wilson condemned the video as a "desperate smear campaign" and denied her party was Americanising healthcare. Yet the Liberals also used AI, posting videos of Premier Ben Carroll asleep at his desk. That followed a Herald Sun story on 24 October with unnamed sources.
A Labor campaign source said the Liberals "threw the first brick." Clancy Moore of Transparency International Australia warned trust is already at all-time lows. "Lies, deepfakes and AI-generated politicians in election ads only further erode Victorians' trust," he said. The Greens have called for a ban.
Timothy Koskie, a media researcher at the University of Sydney, said misinformation predates AI but fake videos make mischaracterizations more convincing. "It's difficult to stop it from happening," he said. "The public won't reward people who refrain from using it."
Koskie said small fines can deter behavior, citing X's $650,000 fine for failing to comply with an Australian child safety notice. "Trying to clean it up after is a losing proposition," he said. The practice continues ahead of this month's Victorian election.
Both major parties are using AI-generated content on social media. Experts warn this could further undermine confidence in elections. There is currently no law banning such deepfakes in Victoria. Calls for regulation are mounting as the campaign intensifies.
