Associated Incidents
Deepfake videos of Sir Keir Starmer have been shared online at the beginning of the Labour party conference in a move that emphasises the threat posed to UK politics by artificial intelligence.
Labour campaigners are set to be trained to flag false clips circulating on social media in a bid to improve digital campaigning ahead of the next election.
Deepfakes involve images, sounds and videos that have been manipulated using AI to create a fabricated narrative.
Two forged audio clips, put online on Sunday, purported to show the Labour leader being abusive to staff and saying he "hated" Liverpool, the city hosting the party's conference.
They were watched thousands of times on TikTok. The majority of the videos were removed from the platform.
On Tuesday morning some of the clips were still circulating on X, formerly known as Twitter.
While the recording was quickly identified as a fake MPs said they were growing increasingly concerned about the dangers AI could pose to an election campaign.
Simon Clarke, the former Conservative business secretary said it was reminiscent of the recent elections in Slovakia.
A fake recording emerged of Michal Simecka, the leader of the Progressive Slovakia Party, having a "conversation" with a journalist discussing how to rig the election.
There is a deep fake audio circulating of Keir Starmer - ignore it," Mr Clarke said.
"It’s a reminder why the upcoming AI summit organised by the Prime Minister is so important.
"From the Slovakian elections a few days ago to today’s incident, this is a new threat to democracy."
A Labour party spokesman confirmed they were aware of fake videos circulating online, but said the party would not be commenting further.