Pakistan elections 2024: Jailed Imran Khan used AI to ask for votes, speech viewed more than 1.4 million times on YouTube

General elections are to be held in Pakistan in February 2024. Despite being behind bars, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been actively involved in the election campaign thanks to Artificial Intelligence. A voice clone of the opposition leader giving an impassioned speech was released by his party. Despite internet disruption, the four-minute message was held on social media by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), termed as a virtual rally. PTI said Khan’s speech was prepared from a text he had written from jail and which was approved by his lawyers. Imran Khan has been in jail since August and is facing trial for leaking confidential data, charges he claims are fabricated to prevent him from running in the February general elections.

AI generated speech

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party used artificial intelligence to generate a four-minute message from the 71-year-old man, who was following a virtual rally organized on social media overnight from Sunday to Monday despite internet disruptions, according to NetBlocks. Was the title. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said that Imran Khan had sent a shorthand script through lawyers, which included his flowery language. The text was then dubbed into audio using a tool from AI firm ElevenLabs, which claims the ability to create voice clones from existing speech samples. Imitating Imran Khan, the voice said, “My fellow Pakistanis, I would first like to praise the social media team for this historic effort.” The audio was broadcast at the end of a five-hour live-stream of speeches by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters on Facebook, X and YouTube, and was overlaid with historical footage and still images of Imran Khan. According to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf it was bookended with actual video clips of the one-time cricket star’s former speeches, but a caption appeared in between, in which it was Imran Khan’s AI voice based on his notes. Was marked as. Gibran Ilyas, social media head of US-based Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said it was not a big deal for us when Imran Khan is not actually present to meet at a political rally. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was the first political party in Pakistan to extensively utilize the potential of social media, using apps to target the young audience that swept them to power five years ago.

avoiding censorship

PTI organized the internet rally to circumvent the government ban on public demonstrations as the party prepares for the general elections on February 8. An AI-generated voice imitating Khan said in the footage that our party is not allowed to hold public rallies. Our people are being kidnapped and their families are being harassed.