MANILA – The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has cautioned the public about the anticipated increase in artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content during the upcoming election season, which could be used for spreading misinformation.
Speaking at the Cybersecurity Awareness Month launch in Quezon City, DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy stated that while AI itself isn’t inherently harmful, they have detected a rise in AI-generated materials that are misleading or used to spread disinformation. He expects this trend to intensify as the country approaches the elections in May next year.
“What sets this election apart is that this is going to be an election that is heavily digitized. And I think our regulations have not yet adopted to that,” Dy said.
He also highlighted, “Major problem now na hindi naranasan nung nakaraang election is the use of disinformation through AI-generated content.”
A growing concern, according to Dy, is the use of deepfakes—AI-manipulated videos and audio that imitate real people but are, in fact, fake. Vishing, or voice phishing, is also problematic, where individuals use AI to replicate a person’s voice during phone calls.
Dy encouraged voters and political parties to file complaints with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) if they encounter misleading or fake AI-generated content. The DICT can only take action once the Comelec receives a formal complaint, after which social media platforms can be informed to address the issue.
“We have the commitment of the three major social media giant- Meta, Google which is YouTube, and Tiktok that they will assist us if we detect AI-generated misleading content,” Dy said.
He added, “What we actually want the social media networks to do is label them: ‘this is misleading, this is AI-generated, this is taken out of context, the source content can’t be verified.’ Labeling like this would help our people in assessing.”
The DICT urged the public to be more cautious when consuming social media posts during the campaign season, even if the content comes from a friend. Dy advised people to rely on legitimate news sources, which have been properly researched and verified.
As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the DICT is partnering with various agencies to conduct seminars aimed at teaching Filipinos how to identify scams and differentiate between fake and real online content. Dy also noted that while street crimes have decreased, online scams have surged.