AI-generated deepfake audio recordings of a Slovak politician and journalist discussing election rigging were spread on social media days before Slovakia's 2023 parliamentary election, potentially influencing the outcome.
In September 2023, several AI-generated deepfake audio recordings were created and spread on social media platforms in Slovakia just days before the parliamentary election on September 30. The most significant deepfake featured a fabricated conversation between Michal Simecka, leader of the Progressive Slovakia party, and journalist Monika Todova from Dennik N, discussing plans to rig the election by buying votes from the Roma minority. Another deepfake audio claimed Simecka planned to double beer prices if elected. These recordings were created using AI voice generation technology trained on publicly available audio samples of the targets' voices. The deepfakes spread rapidly across Facebook, Telegram, and other platforms, reaching hundreds of thousands of people during the 48-hour pre-election moratorium when media outlets and politicians are restricted from campaigning. The recordings were eventually identified as fake by fact-checkers and experts, but not before gaining significant viral spread. Progressive Slovakia, which was polling as a frontrunner, ultimately lost the election to the pro-Russian Smer-SD party led by Robert Fico. While the exact impact of the deepfakes on the election outcome remains unclear, experts believe this represents one of the first significant uses of AI-generated disinformation to influence a European election.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed