The Department of Information and Communications Technology on Monday (September 30) cautioned the public against the expected surge artificial intelligence or AI-generated content that will be used as a weapon of unscrupulous politicians in deceiving voters.

The DICT issued the warning even as the Commission on Elections is contemplating on banning the use of AI deepfakes for political propaganda during the 2025 elections.

Speaking at the launch of the Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Quezon City. DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy stressed the importance of AI technology but pointed out that it becomes dangerous if used to misinform or disinform the public.

He said the deepfake technology is considered as the cybersecurity and fair election problems that could spoil the elections p;roceedings..

According to Dy the use of AI in politically-related campaign in May next year is expected.

He called for vigilance among netizens and the general public to be on the lookout for unlawful use of AI.

“What sets this election apart is that this is going to be an election that is heavily digitized. And I think our regulations have not yet adopted to that,” he said.

According to Dy this is the first time in the country’s election history that AI will be used.

However, he said the use of deepfakes will sow confusion because this involves the manipulation of videos and audios that are exact imitation of faces and voice of real personalities.