Topham Guerin’s Sean Topham on the role of AI in election campaigns
In an exclusive interview with The Nightly, Topham Guerin co-founder Sean Topham discussed the role of AI in election campaigns, saying TG had already used AI for voice work and stock images and that the technology could help reach non-English-speaking voters. He argued that any AI-generated content should be clearly marked as AI-generated, and that agencies provide ideas and advice while parties decide what to publish.
- Publication
- The Nightly
- By
- Latika M Bourke
- Published
- 20 June 2024
- Type
- Press coverage
- Topics
-
- artificial intelligence
- political campaigning
- election integrity
What we did
- TG co-founder Sean Topham gave an exclusive interview to The Nightly (London, 2024)
- Said TG had already used AI for voice work and for creating stock images
- Argued AI content should be clearly labelled as AI-generated, with parties, not agencies, deciding what to publish
Read the full article at The NightlyBut the 33-year-old, whom Boris Johnson nicknamed “DigiKiwi,” said neither the UK Labour nor Conservative parties were using AI to their advantage this election campaign.
He said AI could be used to communicate with non-English speaking voters in their own language, as well as for political attacks.
But he said it was ultimately up to parties to decide on whether they wanted to share deepfake content and that creative digital agencies only ever provided ideas and advice.
TG’s work on the 2019 Brexit campaign, in which they created Boris Johnson’s Love Actually parody in just 48 hours, propelled them onto the international stage.
TG previously caught attention in Australia for their pioneering use of “Boomer Memes,” deliberately basic and tacky memes aimed at older Facebook users to hammer home Scott Morrison’s winning message in 2019, in an election Bill Shorten was widely expected to win for Labor.
“I think there’s a balanced way of doing it but they should have and could still have used them.”
Sean Topham
Questions & answers
How has Topham Guerin used AI in campaigns?
Sean Topham said TG had already used AI for voice work and for creating stock images, and that the technology could help reach non-English-speaking voters.
What does Topham Guerin say about labelling AI content?
That any AI-generated content should be clearly marked as AI-generated, with parties, not agencies, deciding what to publish.