Something is a little off. There may be too many textures, sounds, or people in the clip with too many fingers, but we often intuitively tell that the video was generated by AI.
But the Kelowna City Council candidate said that doesn’t matter.
JC Rathwell has posted about 40 AI-generated campaign videos on YouTube talking about the problems in Kelowna he wants to solve if he’s elected to the city council this fall.
This is new territory for voters, and lawmakers have not put up guardrails.
Most of Rathwell’s videos have a small note in the corner labeled AI and say “Made with AI” at the bottom of the video description. Laswell has not decided whether to run for mayor or city council.
Rathwell said he sat down with the AI agent to brainstorm video ideas, and within an hour and a half he would have a video created and posted online.
“Her name is Lisa. Basically I talked to her and said I want to do something about homelessness,” he told iNFOnews.ca. “Then a script is created from that 15-minute conversation. The highlights are removed from it. Any stuttering or rapid-fire speech I have is erased. Then a one- to two-minute video is created in which I appear as an AI avatar.”
Rathwell is no stranger to AI as he runs an AI agent business that helps local businesses integrate AI into their workflows.
This is not the first time he has run for Kelowna City Council, having been unsuccessful several times throughout the 2000s.
Elections BC’s biggest job in local elections is to enforce local campaign finance laws.
Daniel Johnston, senior director of communications for Elections BC, said there’s nothing there about AI.
“There are no (legal) rules or regulations surrounding AI, including the use of AI in advertising development and campaigns,” Johnston said in an emailed statement.
There is an Elections BC Political Campaign Code of Conduct, but it is voluntary and applies only to provincial political parties, not municipal candidates. The code states that campaigns “must not misrepresent artificial intelligence as human.”
“This code was developed to support fair campaign principles that go beyond legal requirements,” Elections BC said.
Trevor McAleese, who plans to run against Lasswell in the Kelowna City Council race, told iNFOnews.ca he is concerned about the lack of regulation around the use of AI in elections.
“We desperately need some kind of regulation and election policy that prevents this kind of thing and has some mechanism to police it,” he said.
He also doesn’t think it’s a good way to connect with voters, especially since some YouTube videos only have a handful of views.
“I don’t understand why someone who sells themselves as a representative of the people doesn’t do everything in their power to come across as a real human being. … Instead, they turn into generative AI, trying to create something that is at best a quick way to get videos out there, and at worst very misleading,” McAleese said.
Lasswell said he checked with his AI agent, Lisa, and determined there was nothing stopping him from creating as many AI videos as he wanted.
He is a “total conservative” and doesn’t think anti-AI sentiment will work against him either, as he believes left-wing voters are against AI.
“I believe in the target market that I’m going after, but I don’t think they care. People who are woke and don’t want that technology, don’t want change and want the status quo, they’re not going to want to vote for me anyway,” he said.
A survey conducted by Angus Reid found that 96 per cent of British Columbians are concerned that misinformation generated by AI will become a serious problem.
Several people contacted Lasswell, confused as to whether the video was real or AI.
Rathwell said it’s easier and cheaper to create videos using AI.
“I’m not trying to mislead people. This is the best way to get my message across. I’ve never been able to stand in front of a camera and talk and get my point across properly,” he said.
Click here for Rathwell’s campaign website.
