UK news networks will be unable to counter dangerous deepfakes and misinformation swiftly on the day of the general election, the CEO of ITN has warned.
Speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media & Telecoms 2024 and Beyond Conference in London, Rachel Corp warned of the dangers of AI in news reporting, adding that there is “particular concern” around July 4 because of restrictive reporting rules that apply on election day.
On that day, UK news networks are obliged to stop reporting the election in any way that might influence voters, or as Corp described it: “All we can do is show leaders voting and dogs outside polling stations.”
She went on: “If something emerges of Rishi Sunak high-fiving Vladimir Putin and it’s spreading then we can’t counter that, so there is a danger there. We would therefore have to talk to regulators but there is not that instant thing of us coming in to counter [deepfakes]. I’m raising that as a flag but I don’t necessarily have a solution. Generative AI has changed the conversation.”
Corp also warned of the dangers of less sophisticated fakery, such as changing the narrative of a photo to make a politician appear to be scowling when in fact they were smiling.
ITN has just struck a deal with AI-protection platform Open Origins, which will give an ID to all of ITN’s 1.5m archived news clips, helping to prove that “they are human-made and copyright compliant.”
Corp said ITN, which produces news for ITV, Chanel 4 and Channel 5, remains open to more licensing deals of this ilk and said the Open Origins partnership is a first of its kind.
