Intrigue's Take and Recording Included
Hi Intriguer!
We are truly grateful to those of you who joined International Intrigue at the Embassy of Australia last week for “How Internet Culture Shapes Our World: Memes, Deepfakes, and Virality.” You heard from some top experts on the intersection between internet culture and political discourse.
Check out Intrigue’s take and the program recording below.
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Best regards,
– Taylor Gehrcke, Head of Events
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📈 "Memes that didn't really exist when I entered parliament back in 1997 are now a legitimate and powerful form of political communication. One viral meme can make or break an individual politician's career or career prospects." Hon. Dr. Kevin Rudd AC, Australia's Ambassador to the United States
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🔍 "We haven't really seen the use of generative AI to completely sway opinions or to drastically change the information environment. But it does take maybe just one really good deep fake timed really well towards a particular population to actually have that effect." Ginny Badanes, General Manager, Democracy Forward, Microsoft
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🤳 "The biggest thing with memes is capturing a moment for people. It's capturing enthusiasm and emotions about an event. It's like an exclamation point in an online argument." Lacey Dickinson, Co-Executive Director, The Other 98% and Founder, Dickinson Digital Strategies
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🤖 "AI is part of the next industrial revolution. The industrial revolution obviously changed a lot of things domestically, economically, and in terms of power. AI will similarly shift the basis of power, with talent and technological prowess becoming key." Helen Toner, Former OpenAI Board Member and Director, Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology
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INTRIGUE’S TAKE
Mis- and disinformation in our political discourse are nothing new. But they’ve been turbocharged by Internet culture in recent years and now by generative AI.
The obvious question is… how do we now navigate this new landscape? As AI, memes, and Deepfakes (or ‘cheap fakes’) become more embedded in political communication and influence, their impacts on geopolitics will become amplified.
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Memes are powerful political tools with the potential to sway public opinion and alter election outcomes. Governments will need to figure out how to effectively engage with and manage this influence.
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Deepfakes threaten the public’s trust in institutions. Their increasing sophistication means it’s now even harder to distinguish the real from the fake (even for the pros)! Vigilance, media literacy, and robust countermeasures will be key to safeguarding democratic processes.
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The next industrial revolution is generative AI, and it’s already here. It will shift global power dynamics, with countries investing in AI technology and talent gaining significant advantages over others who haven’t.
Also worth noting:
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Major tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, Meta, and OpenAI, have adopted measures to prevent AI tools from disrupting elections. These include detecting and labeling deceptive AI-generated content, authenticating the information, and conducting public awareness campaigns.
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While 87% of respondents in an Ipsos survey were concerned about the potential impact of disinformation on upcoming elections, we have yet to see significant shifts in public opinion or major disruptions to the 2024 US election.
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