AI is also used in prison politics… Produced deepfake speech video while incarcerated

Albanian mayor imprisoned on corruption charges promises free school meals while behind bars

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Hyun Young-bok = The rapidly developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology is being used in prison politics, causing controversy.

According to Politico, an American political media outlet, on the 6th (local time), Erion Veliai (46), the mayor of Tirana, the capital of Albania, an Eastern European country, recently promised free school meals through a deepfake video created with AI while in prison.

He reaffirmed his promise of free meals by appearing in a blue suit in a video on his official Instagram that was marked as generated by AI.

In this video, Mayor Veliai listed his achievements during his tenure and said, "It's been 20 months since I was held hostage, and I can only say hello through artificial intelligence. I will continue to work even in prison and I will never forget my promise of free meals."

He was arrested early last year while being investigated on charges of corruption and financial crimes and has been incarcerated. He denies all charges.

An early election was scheduled to elect a successor to Tirana City in November last year after he was imprisoned, but the election was canceled at the last minute due to the Constitutional Court's restrictions. Albania's Constitutional Court ruled at the time that Mayor Veliai could not be dismissed outside of normal democratic procedures.

Mayor Veliai has delegated several mayoral duties to deputy mayors, and will remain in office until local elections are held in the first half of 2027.

This is not the first time imprisoned politicians have used AI to communicate with the public.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was imprisoned on corruption charges, used AI deepfakes in 2023 to appeal to citizens to vote for his political party, the Pakistan Justice Movement (PTI), during the 2023 elections.

In July of this year, an AI-generated avatar of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appeared at the presidential launch ceremony for opposition presidential candidate Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Representative Flavio is the eldest son of former President Bolsonaro.

Former President Bolsonaro was found guilty on charges of plotting a coup and is under house arrest and prohibited from participating in election-related events.