Taipei Mayor Admits Commissioning Deepfake Video; Influencer Demands Bipartisan Condemnation

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an has admitted to commissioning a deepfake video, asserting that any repercussions should be aimed at him. The admission follows the creation and dissemination of a deepfake video featuring fabricated audio of presidential candidate Lai Ching-te.

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If you are dissatisfied with the handling of the toxic oil incident, you can dislike Lai Ching-te, dislike Cho Jung-tai, but it is absolutely not freedom of speech to use AI to fake other people's voices and release propaganda that could be mistaken for him saying outrageous things.

Financial influencer Hu Cai-ping strongly criticized the use of AI to create such content, arguing that it falls outside the bounds of protected free speech. She emphasized the potential for severe consequences if such technology were used for fraud or to spread misinformation, citing hypothetical scenarios of fabricated kidnapping calls.

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If someone today fakes your voice to defraud netizens, or fakes everyone's voice to call their family and falsely claim they were kidnapped, it will have very bad consequences.

Cai-ping expressed her condemnation of the team behind the deepfake video, warning that the technology could be used against any politician, including Chiang himself. She called for a unified, bipartisan denunciation of the practice, highlighting the need to protect individuals from becoming victims of such manipulation.

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These people can do this to others today, and tomorrow they can do it to you. None of us want to be victims, so we should condemn it unanimously, regardless of party affiliation.