No budget for the campaign? There is artificial intelligence
Likud and Yashar are leading this week in the use of artificial intelligence in election propaganda, but small parties are also discovering the potential of the new tools. At the same time, two videos suspected of using AI have already reached the Central Elections Committee and were removed. "The AI behind the elections" - a new column.
About the column: The AI behind the elections
The column, which will be published here on Sundays until the elections, is written in collaboration with "Ze be-AI", a research project of the Open University designed to increase transparency regarding the use of artificial intelligence in election propaganda. Every week we will present the scope of use and analyze prominent cases.
Weekly trend
Data from the last week shows that the Likud and Yashar parties are leading not only in the polls but also in the use of artificial intelligence in election propaganda. This proves that for the two central political platforms, artificial intelligence is not just an auxiliary tool on the sidelines of the campaign, but a central strategic front and an inseparable part of the propaganda content production enterprise, aimed at shaping the consciousness of voters and maintaining their public lead.
An interesting surprise on the list is the appearance of the Economic Party in third place with 35 items - a figure that points to the other side of using artificial intelligence: even smaller parties, operating without huge budget mechanisms, identify AI as an effective shortcut for mass content production with the goal of breaking into the public consciousness against other institutional parties such as Otzma Yehudit and BEYAHAD (led by Naftali Bennett).
Prominent videos
"Learn to make a ponytail" | Bezalel Smotrich: Smotrich published a video in which two girls are talking, with one of them accusing the Minister of Finance of neglecting her. Why? Because of his reserve duty program, which keeps her father at home and requires him to take care of her.
"Now that you are home," the video calls out, "learn to make a ponytail."
However, the chairman of the Central Elections Committee issued a temporary order to Smotrich and his party to remove the video, on suspicion of violating the ban on using children under the age of 15 in propaganda. According to "Ze be-AI", it is likely that artificial intelligence was also used in it.
"Silman Park" | Gilad Erdan: The chairman of "Ha-Achdut" published a video in which the memorial projects of the leaders of the Likud movement for generations - Jabotinsky, Begin, and Shamir - are replaced by the commemoration of Gottlieb, Silman, and Milvitsky. Here too, the Central Elections Committee ordered the removal of the video, after it was not properly marked as propaganda that used artificial intelligence tools.
"The Qatari campaign version" | Naama Lazimi: As part of the "Qatari version" campaign, Naama Lazimi (The Democrats) published an image simulating the official Likud billboard, while incorporating photos of senior Qatari government officials such as Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. In response, the Likud party filed an urgent petition to the Central Elections Committee demanding the immediate removal of the publication. Lazimi removed the publication herself, and the petition was dismissed.
The research is funded by the President Meir Shamgar Center for Digital Law and Innovation and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Tel Aviv University, and is supported by The Bright Initiative of Bright Data.
