AI-driven voice cloning technology is being utilized to impersonate Omar al-Bashir, the former leader of Sudan, adding confusion and disinformation in Sudan's civil war and exacerbating an already complex situation in the country.
Stricter regulations and media literacy are needed to combat the spread of misinformation and mitigate the unintended consequences of such campaigns. For more on the AI advancement, VOA's Paul Ndiho, via Skype, spoke to Chukwemeka Monyei, a lawyer and cyber security expert in Abuja, Nigeria.
The mystery surrounding his whereabouts adds a layer of uncertainty to a country in crisis after fighting broke out in April between the military, currently in charge, and the rival Rapid Support Forces militia group.
Campaigns like this are significant as they show how new tools can distribute fake content quickly and cheaply through social media, experts say.
"It is the democratisation of access to sophisticated audio and video manipulation technology that has me most worried,"
says Hany Farid, who researches digital forensics at the University of California, Berkeley, in the US.
“Sophisticated actors have been able to distort reality for decades, but now the average person with little to no technical expertise can quickly and easily create fake content.”