{"id":703040,"date":"2026-05-29T22:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T22:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/703040\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T22:01:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T22:01:17","slug":"do-ai-generated-images-have-any-place-in-australian-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/703040\/","title":{"rendered":"Do AI-generated images have any place in Australian politics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a picture of a humpback whale, leaping out of the water, its three or possibly four fins glistening in the glowing orange sunset.<\/p>\n

The apparently AI-generated image was posted on the Facebook page of Liberal member for South West Coast Roma Britnell to mark the arrival of the first southern right whales of whale-watching season in her state electorate.<\/p>\n

While it may not be in the same realm as US President Donald Trump posting pictures of himself as the pope, a king or even Jesus Christ, the creation and sharing of the anatomically incorrect whale image has raised a serious question.<\/p>\n

Should politicians be dabbling with AI-generated imagery at all?<\/p>\n

\"Humpback<\/p>\n

Humpback whales have two pectoral fins. (Supplied: Jodie Lowe’s Marine Animal Photography)<\/p>\n

‘Sloppy, rushed, unauthentic’<\/p>\n

ANU political marketing expert Andrew Hughes said there was an increased amount of AI-generated content in political messaging because it was a cheap, quick, and easy way to put out eye-grabbing, visual content.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Hughes said poorly executed content could damage the reputation of a public figure.<\/p>\n

“It’s sloppy, it looks as though you rushed it, it looks like you’re taking advantage of an opportunity, and it doesn’t come across as authentic and real,” he said.<\/p>\n

The perils of using AI-generated images have hit Australian news headlines in recent weeks, with a viral social media campaign protesting changes to the federal government’s capital gains tax<\/a> shown to be misleading.<\/p>\n

Dr Hughes said this was an example of social media users inadvertently becoming caught up in a disinformation campaign by sharing the post with false claims.<\/p>\n

“You have to be careful, and you have to make sure the information you’re using is accurate,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Andrew Hughes says politicians using generated images can erode public trust.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 (ABC News: David Sciasci)<\/p>\n

Dr Hughes said the public would have a right to wonder why a politician was not providing work for a local artist or photographer, or using their own photos.<\/p>\n

“That’s the question people will be asking themselves \u2014 if you’re from the local community, why aren’t you helping your local community?” he said.<\/p>\n

“You’ve got a camera in your pocket. Take a snap when you’re out and about, and people will love you for it because that’s the real you, and that’s what we love seeing.<\/p>\n

“Real life images say a lot in politics.”AI fails human connection test<\/p>\n

Gareth Colliton is an artist and the head of creative organisation One Day Studios in Warrnambool, which is in Ms Britnell’s electorate.<\/p>\n

Mr Colliton said generative AI took opportunities away from local artists, and that a politician making an effort to hire a local photographer to use their work for a fee would land better with audiences.<\/p>\n

“I’ve seen some really amazing photos of whales breaching around here,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If it had been those photos, it would have had a whole different conversation \u2014 it would’ve been shared a lot more and had much better results for that politician.”<\/p>\n

Mr Colliton said he could understand the use of AI to quickly create content for social media, but he did not believe it was the best tactic.<\/p>\n

“You’re doing yourself an injustice when you use AI,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It cheapens your brand \u2026 it loses its impact, and it becomes a bit of a joke, and that’s part of why we dismiss it.<\/p>\n

“An AI machine can do a vague copy of what a human has made, but it can’t get the human connection.”\"A<\/p>\n

A surfer enjoys an encounter with a southern right whale along Warrnambool’s coast. (Supplied: Robin Sharrock)<\/p>\n

Why go AI?<\/p>\n

Ms Britnell’s apparent AI image, which is of a humpback whale and not a southern right whale, might seem innocent, but it was accompanied by a political message.<\/p>\n

The post referenced a pledge that the Victorian Liberal Party would not support offshore wind development in the Southern Ocean, citing concerns for the marine environment and whale species.<\/p>\n

There was no disclaimer regarding the origin of the image and whether it was made by AI.<\/p>\n

\"Roma<\/p>\n

Roma Britnell has held the South-West Coast seat for the Liberal Party since 2015. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

When asked whether the image was AI, Roma Britnell told the ABC she did not know because a staff member had posted it.<\/p>\n

But she said she had seen the image and said: “It looked like a whale to me.”<\/p>\n

“I’m nearly 60 years old and not that au fait with AI,” she said.<\/p>\n

She said her office did not have funding to pay for a photographer’s work.<\/p>\n

Ms Britnell’s other social media posts often included genuine photos taken by herself or her team while interacting with constituents.<\/p>\n

Political AI guidelines<\/p>\n

Federal and state electoral commissions have introduced guidelines around the use of AI in political campaigns, but there are no guardrails around the everyday use of AI-generated imagery and material outside of elections.<\/p>\n

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) guidelines say that there is no requirement for political parties or campaigners to disclose that they are using a manipulated image, or that an image has been manipulated.<\/p>\n

The AEC guidelines say politicians may choose to disclose when an AI tool has been used by including a simple message in the image.<\/p>\n

At a state level, the Victorian Electoral Commission said campaigners were expected to clearly label content that had been created by or modified with AI, as well as properly authorise all material.<\/p>\n

SES AI post ‘a bit of fun’<\/p>\n

Ms Britnell’s post was not the only apparently AI-generated picture that has attracted attention in regional Victoria.<\/p>\n

While not political, a Victorian SES unit’s social media post, which featured an AI-generated image, attracted a divided response from the community, highlighting mixed attitudes about such faux photos.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The Castlemaine SES branch created and posted this AI-generated image that depicts volunteer crews responding to a call-out. (Supplied: Castlemaine SES)<\/p>\n

Some commenters on the Castlemaine SES post made jokes about the generated image, while others questioned why the unit did not use a real photograph of volunteers at a scene.<\/p>\n

The image was clearly labelled as AI-generated, and the unit often posted real photographs of crews on scene.<\/p>\n

Deputy controller Bert Forbes said the AI-generated image posted in November last year was used because volunteers did not have time to take a photo like they usually would.<\/p>\n

“Since one of our members was experimenting with AI imagery at the time, it seemed like a bit of fun to go ahead and post up something that was clearly not real and over the top,” Mr Forbes said.<\/p>\n

He said the post did not seek to deceive audiences.<\/p>\n

“It might look like a poster for an upcoming action movie,” Mr Forbes said.<\/p>\n

“It’s not real; it’s not something we’d normally post up.”<\/p>\n

Mr Forbes said AI use was not part of the unit’s social media strategy.<\/p>\n

“For our unit, the real photographs and the real people are the real heroes,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s a picture of a humpback whale, leaping out of the water, its three or possibly four fins…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,128411,254,255,64,63,128927,94843,105,660,342206],"class_list":["post-703040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-ai-generated-images","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fake-images","tag-politicians","tag-technology","tag-victoria","tag-victorian-state-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}