Pakistan’s Imran Khan uses AI to give campaign speech from prison

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan delivered a four-minute speech to millions of supporters at an online rally on Sunday. But that isn’t possible, as Khan is currently in jail on corruption charges. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party instead used artificial intelligence to recreate Khan’s voice, briefly using an AI-generated image of Khan as well that appeared to be speaking. The PTI said Khan sent the script outline from prison, which was reportedly turned into audio using a tool from AI firm ElevenLabs. The party is not allowed to hold public rallies ahead of an election scheduled on 8 February. Important to note: the clip was captioned as AI-generated. Analysts have been warning about AI-generated fake clips disrupting elections next year as countries including the UK, US and India head to the polls. But the PTI says it used the technology to evade state suppression. The key is to be clear about what’s real.