Australia’s election campaign is in full swing, and so too is AI powered online political paraphernalia - from a now dropped auto tuned ‘diss track’ rap to the swirl of TikTok videos and even the latest doll trend images are not immune.
Against this background, Dr Anne Kruger was the guest speaker for a hybrid discussion titled ‘Sup
porting media literacy and information integrity in the AI age’ hosted at Meta’s Australian headquarters in Sydney on April 9. Dr Kruger noted, “this was one of the most professional experiences I've had in this area engaging with people with deep experience, knowledge and a desire to help.”
The roundtable convened a group of government officials and policy leads from the AEC, Home Affairs, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, ACMA, digital platforms including TikTok, Google and Meta, peak industry body DIGI, fact checking organisations, inter-faith cohesion stakeholders as well as academic, industry and other experts focused on information integrity. Dr Kruger presented from her years of investigating global election mis and disinformation applying a framework from tactics and trends used to undermine electoral integrity and democracy.
“Everyone came away from the table ready to collaborate and lent their diverse views and approaches towards as solutions lens.
“I think UQ is well positioned to help facilitate this in future,” Dr Kruger said.
Nicole Han, from Meta’s Asia-Pacific Integrity Partnerships team followed with the latest news on Meta’s rollout in the US of Community Notes. All policy eyes are on the pilot rollout keeping close watch.
Dr Kruger shared strategies to mitigate the potential risks for AI technology to be misused to spread or amplify mis- and disinformation. She reflected on some of the lessons from the 2024 global elections and the importance of transparency and media literacy education as AI technology becomes increasingly sophisticated.
UQ’s marketing and communication unit facilitated the perfect way to round out the event: Dr Kruger giving an interview while at the airport on the way back home with the well informed Sofie Formica on radio 4BC. https://lnkd.in/eaNwP7WD
