Nelson City Councilman Campbell Rollo says his portrait is being used in an AI-generated video that was circulated online last week.
photograph: LDR/MAX FRETHEY
Nelson City Councilman Campbell Loro denounced his “AI-generated” video posted on social media.
The video, featuring first-term councillors filming military-style firearms, was uploaded to the Nelson Community Facebook page on Friday, but was later deleted.
Posted by an account called Nelson NZ Video Game Buyer and captioned. [sic] Voting for the Nelson Community! What a shameful, encouraging violence! ”
Rolo said the video was generated by artificial intelligence and “recovered quite a bit” when he saw the video online.
“The video was not real. It was generated by someone using my Facebook photos without my knowledge.”
“pixverse.ai” – a generative AI website – appears in the corner of the video, with the background and clothing worn by Rolo in the video matching his Facebook profile image.
“I literally didn't know where it came from. I immediately went back and scrolled over it. I knew very quickly that it was generated,” he said.
“I just really think someone is a bit of fun, but yeah, in hindsight, it's probably a little too far.”
He said he was worried that some commenters were wondering if the video was authentic, and urged residents to “really care” about online content, especially as local elections approached.
“If you see something coming out of a political person or someone running for council, I'm sure I'm looking for a statement of approval or something authentic.”
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith reiterated Loro's concerns.
He said it's good that the video is “very fake” and that most people can tell that the post was made by “someone is mischievous.”
“But it's a real warning, especially when going to local elections, to note that people are made false claims to people and affect the way they vote.”
Smith added that Tafnanui Liaison Committee member Roro is “very effective” in his role.
“He does a great job for Tafnanui and it's very unfair to link him to gun violence.”
After the video was deleted, Lolo discovered that support from residents and his fellow elected members was “super humble.”
“The amount of calls and messages I just reached out to, I'm sure I'm fine. It's pretty cool,” he said.
“At the end, we are people who try to do everything we can for our community.”
LDR is a local journalism jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
