On the campaign trail: Syed Hussien speaking to a crowd during their campaign for the Mahkota seat. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
KLUANG: Crafting catchy campaign songs is one way artificial intelligence (AI) is boosting the campaigns of rival parties in the Mahkota by-election but experts caution against abusing the technology for spreading lies.
Barisan Nasional candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and his rival from Perikatan Nasional Mohamad Haizan Jaafar each had their own songs composed using AI technology, coalition officials said.
Barisan and Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Salleh said the coalition’s song for Mahkota was created using AI in less than a day.
“It took just one night. The song was created on nomination day and has been played since Sept 15.
“The song is catchy and has gained traction on TikTok. Some children here even sing ‘Hussien, Hussien’ (the song’s chorus) when they see our candidate,” he told reporters while on the campaign trail.
The song has also been translated into Mandarin and Tamil with the help of party leaders.
On the campaign trail: Mohamad Haizan speaking to a crowd during their campaign for the Mahkota seat. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
“They reviewed the lyrics, sentence structure and pronunciation ... to ensure everything was accurate before we started using it,” said Dr Muhamad Akmal.
Johor Perikatan Youth chief Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz said the coalition saved lots of time by using AI to compose the song for Mohamad Haizan.
“We came up with the main points and message we wanted the song to convey. It took some time to input these ideas, but once done, the AI created the song,” he said.
“It used to take at least two weeks to compose a song, but now it can be done in less than two days,” he said, adding that AI is a “positive tool when used ethically”.
Both candidates and their campaign workers are leveraging on social media to reach out to outstation voters to persuade them to return on polling day this Saturday.
Barisan is using community WhatsApp groups in Mahkota to reach as many residents as possible before polling day, said Syed Hussien.
Perikatan meanwhile is focused on creating attractive messages on Facebook and TikTok to get younger voters to turnout in large numbers, said Mohamad Haizan, adding that a multifaceted approach was important.
Malaysia Cyber Consumer Association president Siraj Jalil said the use of AI in this by-election reflects how quickly technological developments are reshaping election campaigns.
“I’m confident that the next general election in Malaysia will look very different from past elections. The Mahkota by-election is a good indication of this,” he said when contacted.
In the future, political parties may also use AI tools such as ChatGPT to generate campaign narratives and counter-arguments, he said.
So far, Siraj has not detected any significant use of technology to spread disinformation or misinformation.
“This is a good sign, and we should embrace it. I do not condone the use of AI for ill intentions,” he said.
The by-election was triggered when its incumbent Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain of Umno died on Aug 2, three days after being hospitalised.
She had won the seat in the March 2022 Johor state election with a majority of 5,166 votes, defeating candidates from Perikatan, Pakatan Harapan and Parti Warisan.
