Former Pakistani Prime Minister campaigns from prison using artificial intelligence

When AI helps fight censorship. Artificial intelligence allowed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to campaign from his cell on Sunday night for the 2024 legislative elections. Despite his detention since August, the restoration of his voice allowed his party to deliver a fiery speech.

“Dear compatriots, first of all I would like to congratulate our team on social media for this historic attempt,” said the restored voice of the 71-year-old former cricketer, who is awaiting trial behind bars on several cases including the alleged leak of government documents. . He said the charges are aimed at keeping him out of the February 2024 legislative elections.

“You may all be wondering what I am doing in prison,” added the artificial voice of the man who was Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022. “My resolve for real freedom today is very strong.”

“It was about circumventing repression”

The four-minute far-fetched message was posted by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on social media despite an internet shutdown. Access to social media was restricted for seven hours late on Sunday, according to Netblocks.

However, more than 4.5 million people were able to attend this virtual meeting. The artificial intervention was broadcast at the end of a series of live speeches by PTI activists on Facebook, X and YouTube, with archival footage of Imran Khan in the background. According to PTI, references to “AI voice of Imran Khan based on his recordings” appeared regularly.

“It was obvious to us that Imran Khan was no longer available” to take part in the meetings, said Jibran Ilyas, social media manager for US-based PTI, “It was a matter of bypassing the crackdown.” “No PTI political meeting is complete without Imran Khan,” he added in an interview with AFP.

A clone of his voice, based on real performances.

According to PTI, in view of this artificial message, Imran Khan first conveyed a short text through his lawyers and then presented it in his usual rhetoric. Then the technology of the startup specializing in artificial intelligence ElevenLabs made it possible to transform it into spoken speech, delivered by a clone of his voice, created based on the politician’s real past speeches.

Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 World Cup, was banned from broadcasting after his brief arrest in May sparked riots.

Politicians in the South Asian country are often embroiled in legal proceedings that human rights activists say are orchestrated by the powerful military, which has ruled the country directly for more than half of its history and continues to do so with enormous power.