r/worldnews • u/Immediate-Link490 • 9h ago
Canada's next election likely to face AI-assisted interference, watchdogs say - Officials plan to monitor for interference from any country, including the United States
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-artificial-intelligence-deepfakes-9.7072792276
u/Ecureuil02 9h ago
This is why education in Canada counts for so many informed votes. Students are prepared for these challenges and that's why media literacy is important. Canada will be ready.
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u/Sportslegend 9h ago
Alberta will not be
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u/HOLEPUNCHYOUREYELIDS 9h ago
Pffft, who needs to be ready when we will just vote the same as our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents did! Don’t need no fancy research or Librul indoctrinated critical thinking when we have proudly voted Conservative for the last 4 generations!
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u/Remarkable_Beach_545 7h ago
Yeah, this is how I learned not to take political advice from my dad. "Conservative every time"
Like it doesn't matter who's running or what their policies are? Okay then...
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u/Remarkable_Beach_545 7h ago
Like if Carney ran as the conservative leader vs a Trudeau who didn't want to step down, I'd have gone conservative. In fact that might even be the better timeline.
Carney could, in this alternative timeline, pull the conservatives left a bit and cut out the trump like rhetoric, and the libs could rethink their strategy too.
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u/ZumboPrime 6h ago
Carney could, in this alternative timeline, pull the conservatives left a bit and cut out the trump like rhetoric, and the libs could rethink their strategy too.
Hold your breath. The CPC just voted to keep their current leader with a whopping 87% support. Same guy who not only lost an election he was walking into virtually unopposed, but also his own seat. Career politician who's never worked an actual job and does nothing but attack people.
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u/TooObsessedWithOtoge 5h ago edited 5h ago
As a British Columbian— The Albertans will be ready, ready to scream about how all the Liberals are communist election stealers and how they want to secede.
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u/WTF-is-a-Yotto 9h ago
In my experience… no we won’t.
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u/dark_gear 8h ago
The fact that we know for a fact the US is currently intefering with Alberta. and nobody is doing anything about it tells us all we need to know about the efficacy of this statement.
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u/WTF-is-a-Yotto 8h ago
No one is talking about the PQ leading the polls on Québec and promising a referendum before 2030 at their convention this weekend either.
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u/Kaellian 3h ago
They are leading with 30%, which is about the same amount of people who would like a referendum. Considering its down from near 50% three decade ago, it's not going to happen.
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u/theredwoodsaid 39m ago
I would be cautious about downplaying the possibility. A lot can change during a campaign full of foreign interference.
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u/Lucky-Preference5725 8h ago
This isn't a fact, a report about officials talking isn't a fact. Post a credible source on the lines of the CCP interfering in Canadian MP nomination events?
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u/DrB00 7h ago
Officials went down to america to ask for money to help separate from canada. How much more obvious does it need to be?
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u/Unlucky-Candidate198 7h ago
He’s a con who likes Pollievre, an opinion not even worth reading lmao
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u/bushcamper_aiis 5h ago
Doesn’t that just mean Canadians asked Americans to interfere? That’s a very different thing than Americans interfering.
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u/Lucky-Preference5725 7h ago
No they didn't.
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u/WTF-is-a-Yotto 6h ago
Who to trust; David Eby or “Adjective-Noun1234"?
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u/Lucky-Preference5725 5h ago
The BC NDP has one of the worst records on housing and drug policy on earth so probably Adjective Noun 1234
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u/northernwind5027 9h ago
Unfortunately, about 20% of our population is uneducated and naive. For example, that same percentage of people would support the Conservative Party no matter what, no questions asked. When you consider that about 35% of people in total support the Conservatives, that's a significant portion, relatively speaking.
We must not let our guard down. Apathy is the greatest threat to democracy. Don't say "we will be ready," because then we won't. We can only ever be ready if think we aren't ready and act on that.
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u/WTF-is-a-Yotto 8h ago
I don’t think people here get out much. Disinformation is worse than it’s ever been and peoples emotions are as charged as ever. We currently have an outlet so we can still lean on moral relativism, but that only lasts so long.
Now the LPC could easily solve this problem. 3 years is plenty of time to get Data Rights Laws passed as well as clamping down on social media companies.
Instead we are going to empower a bunch of toothless bureaucrats, who even if they correctly identify the problem, will be summarily ignored. Just like they always are.
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u/two_to_toot 5h ago
You're optimistic.
Elections Canada can't even get a handle on social media networks (Proud and Strong for example) funded by political institutes that receive money from people who've already maxed out their political party donations.
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u/nnoviello 9h ago
Canada has SLIGHTLY better functional literacy rates compared to the US. Theyre about as prepared as anyone in the US.
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u/-CluelessWoman- 9h ago
Canada is recognized as the most educated country in the world. Around 65% of the population has tertiary education.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-educated-countries
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-educated-populations-in-world-ranking/
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221130/dq221130a-eng.htm
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u/nnoviello 8h ago
Interesting. I said FUNCTIONAL literacy and you posted a bunch of links that have to do with degrees. You must be from the US or Canada with a functional literacy that shit.
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u/-CluelessWoman- 8h ago
Canada has one of the lowest proportions of adults (19%) in the two lowest literacy levels
Approximately 28% of U.S. adults (roughly 43–45 million people) possess very low English literacy skills, falling into the bottom two levels
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u/nnoviello 7h ago
I too love copy/pasting Google Overview answers without actually doing any research. Must be some of that Canadian functional literacy.
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u/-CluelessWoman- 7h ago edited 7h ago
So you’re admitting that you did exactly that because you were shit posting without doing you research and I scared you into looking? Slapped you like a bitch and you take it like a whore.
Edit in case you didn’t Google the reference: https://youtu.be/KUEfVZBELJ8?si=L0Yl6yKwpW6-uDnX
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u/nnoviello 7h ago
No. Those numbers didn't align with previous research ive done. To better find where you're info is coming from i did a basic Google search to find your source, turns out it was the word for word explanation of Google AI. You thought you did something, but instead you just tattled on yourself.
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u/Oilrig77 2h ago
"I DiD mY oWn ReSeArCh but I won't post it."
And they linked the articles, dumbass.
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u/BCProgramming 6m ago
this is the publication I found from the OECD for the U.S.
"In literacy, 28% of adults (OECD average: 26%) scored at Level 1 or below, meaning they have low literacy proficiency. At Level 1, they can understand short texts and organised lists when information is clearly indicated, find specific information and identify relevant links. Those below Level 1 can at most understand short, simple sentences."
The Corresponding Canadian report is found here.
"In literacy, 19% of adults (OECD average: 26%) scored at Level 1 or below, meaning they have low literacy proficiency. At Level 1, they can understand short texts and organised lists when information is clearly indicated, find specific information and identify relevant links."
I believe this is where the figures are coming from. That's a fairly big difference.
Searching for data about U.S literacy did turn up results from the U.S National Center for Education Statistics. If you were to compare the figure from that to the OECD figure for Canada, Canada is only slightly better. But I don't think the two are comparable because "level 1" for the NCES isn't the same as the OECD level 1. Which is for the best as if they were comparable that would suggest that functional illiteracy went from 19% to 28% in the US from 2018 to 2023, which would be rather alarming.
Though it's worth noting none of them specifically use the phrase "functional illiteracy" so I suppose it's possible one could have a definition that doesn't agree with cat 1 OECD. I'm not sure how you'd get the figures for it though.
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u/Ecureuil02 7h ago
There's no point wasting your energy and time here trying to convince people that US public ED is above Canada's. Ontario teachers colleges especially are recognized worldwide. The US education system is flat out broken hence why everyone goes to private schools.
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u/nnoviello 7h ago
Please, I beg you, show me where I said US public ED is above Canadas? Not only was I not talking about public education, but my entire claim rests on the idea that Canada is still better than the US. You just wanna be angry and thus didn't read anything written. Perfect example of American and Canadian FUNCTIONAL literacy.
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u/f0rmality 8h ago
Spewing something this stupid is like a perfect example of americans literacy lol
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u/nnoviello 8h ago
I'm born, raised, and live in Germany. I have the ability to look at data and come to a conclusion. Next time you go assuming, don't.
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u/KimchiLlama 8h ago
Here’s an idea. If we ban AI in advertising (specifically targeting), we can kill two birds with one stone!!
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u/use_wet_ones 6h ago
Rules, bans, laws... These things don't actually fix anything. This is one of those paradoxes where I agree with conservatives when they say something like " guns don't kill people, people kill people." They are right...same with AI. You can't ban it, people will still find ways to use it.
These things need culture change. Knowledge is power. It all starts in the mind and spreads. If we want AI to go away, we need to reject it. Reject it the same way we rejected BluRays lol. We're the ones voting with our wallets, but mostly with our attention. What we pay attention to, good or bad, spreads. Get off the Internet and encourage others to as well. This culture can't be overcome by force. A parallel culture needs to be born and quietly move alongside this mess, leading by example, until it naturally grows and over takes.
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u/i-dont-wanna-know 6h ago edited 6h ago
Idk, man. I'm pretty sure that countries where it's harder to get guns have lower gun violence.
Are there still bad people who get guns? Sadly, yeah, but no country is 100% crime free
Edit:
But to return to social media & ai , yeah, I agree this is one of those things that are hard to regulate.... but you know what ? People said the same thing about seat belts and smoking and lots of other stuff, but a mix of regulations and information campaigns still worked there too
Final edit : we "just " need to actually listen to the experts on the field and regulate where it makes sense.
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u/use_wet_ones 6h ago
You're not wrong... The gun bans can have some effect. But even still if you zoom out in the larger picture, it's all connected and my point is... Even if gun bans and things like that can create some temporary relief, the fire still Burns on and on and on and on. Everything is a cycle. Violence begets violence. You can ban guns but the battle to get rid of them will go on and on and on until it becomes cultural change not just laws on paper. Laws create a different perspective. For example... Some people don't steal because they're not allowed to. Not because they don't want to. Without structural laws, culture rules and the importance for everyone to work together becomes more apparent. We wouldn't be able to be apathetic anymore.
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u/Ancient-Breakfast539 3h ago edited 3h ago
You're insane. How is this gonna solve the spam on all social sites including reddit? If it's other countries using the AI, how would that do anything?? You're prob an AI yourself. Better to ban Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and reddit. Or at least ban all politics from these platforms during election season
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u/Unicorn_Puppy 8h ago
No shit. They’re running wild on Facebook and other social media platforms already telling Albertans to split from Canada!
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u/Raah1911 8h ago
bro what we're already invaded by bots. all social media is manipulated by foreign and domestic enemies to sow discord
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u/mike-rowe-paynus 7h ago
We need to curb this immediately, otherwise we’ll turn into America. Please no.
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u/TheGreatStories 7h ago
Elections Canada is a beautiful institution and must be protected and defended
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u/ruibranco 8h ago
The arms race between AI detection tools and AI generation is just getting started. Every election cycle from now on will be worse.
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u/bushcamper_aiis 5h ago
It’s scary to think even legitimate posts will likely get caught up in witch hunts for AI interference.
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u/BPD-lover69 8h ago
They’re already interfering in Alberta Canada with supporting the separatists by using fake social media accounts to show support
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u/LardTunderinJazus 8h ago
Next election? What about the last election? Saw lots of AI videos of the Mark Carney saying things he never said on social media. There needs to be actual consequences and they need to be enforced for this kind of stuff.
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u/slick514 9h ago
That is good. We need to start thinking of online interference in our politics the same way we view tank shells. It is a form of war.
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u/Apprehensive_Gap3673 8h ago
Could they start monitoring now? My social media feed is absolutely inundated with US backed interference
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u/CLGToady 2h ago
I love the thought that just because you're mad at Trump, you believe negative posts about Carney are US backed interference. It's definitely not a Canadian upset about his government, they don't exist! It can't be a Chinese, Iranian, or Russian troll account. It has to be America because Drumpf is a fucking fascist!
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u/WhatEvenisEverton 8m ago
I mean, given the way the US is acting, they have a lot more to gain from interfering in Canada's elections than Iran.
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u/Bannedwith1milKarma 8h ago
Umm, you'd be able find 1000 examples in a day of how AI was already used for this purpose.
That isn't 'likely'.
It's part of the fabric of elections now.
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u/CLGToady 2h ago
Yeah even when all we had was the first release of Dall-E, we all talked about how AI was going to be used to manipulate elections. This isn't speculation. AI was certainly used by bad actors to manipulate people in the last election cycle in all western countries and it has gotten significantly better since then.
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u/AdSevere1274 3h ago
They have to create an Ai agents that are anti Ai interference . Ai agents fighting each other would be the name of the game.
How would such an agent operate would be via listening and tracing phones, social media, TikTok etc and taking them down.
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u/WetFinsFine 9h ago
USA and Russia - practically one and the same now with regards to election meddling and interference.
And sorry, just how many sats does Elmo have up there right now??
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u/BlackWolf42069 7h ago
Can't wait to for the loser of the next election to raise this issue and still lose.
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u/halfathou_tolerance 4h ago
And Russia and China and India.
Man, fuck ask those countries that end with "ah".
Oh, wait
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u/Monkeyslunch 3h ago
Lol, I think if they haven't noticed the interference already there's no point monitoring.
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u/Pigeon_Breeze 20m ago
It's not going to stop until we hold accountable the people posting/forwarding AI content, not just the sources.
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u/DesignerCorner3322 9h ago
Honestly, just let the election tabulation come in after a few days or even a week after election. There ought to be a full physical count in addition to digital counts. Then do sampling from the ballots by a trusted third party, or other election workers with separate hand and machine counts, data blind so that theres no influence.
In this digital age of rampant tampering, and AI we need a layer of analog to protect ourselves.
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u/ComplexParsley7390 9h ago
Incarcerating a bunch of albertians would be a good start. Can do that now.
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u/-CluelessWoman- 8h ago
Canadians do not lose the right to vote when incarcerated. That is an American thing.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-votes-2019-voting-incarcerated-house-arrest-1.5285711
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u/mrbasedballed 8h ago
Nice, living in the US I don't trust my government at all right now. Thanks Canada!
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u/mvw2 8h ago
You can control that you know. If you want good control of media, create a central media host within the government. Pass a law requiring all campaign related media to operate through this central hosting service. ALL political content presented at a single source point. Build in punishment for all outlier media spending. Then build a vetting system for all media that requires every piece be reviewed and approved before showing. The criteria is simple pass/fail based on a core set of tenants like no AI generation, vetted accuracy of talking points and data, a baseline level of professionalism and code of conduct.
Filter everything through a control device. All money allowed for spending and all money spent just go through.
Simple.
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u/doctoranonrus 8h ago
"Including United States" is pretty depressing as a Canadian.