The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to release guidelines next week to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and prohibit deepfakes in the 2025 midterm elections.
According to Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, the commission aims to ensure fair treatment for all candidates in the upcoming elections.
The new regulations on the use of emerging technology are based on the results of discussions during a stakeholders’ forum and consultation dialogue conducted by the poll body at the University of the Philippines in July of this year.
This move by Comelec follows warnings from several IT experts about the significant role that AI and deepfakes could play during campaign periods in next year’s elections.
In anticipation of the potential spread of fake news and misinformation related to the elections, Comelec recommended to its en banc to ban candidates from using AI technology and deepfakes in their campaigns, leading the commission to draft these guidelines.