Politics & Government

‘Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’ Appears in Vulgar Fake Video Created by AI, Spreads on X Quickly

A still image of a fake video of what looks like Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as posted on the Niconico Douga video posting site. (Image has been partially modified.)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:30 JST, November 4, 2023

A fake video of what looks like Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been spreading on social media. The clip, generated by artificial intelligence, features a voice that closely resembles the prime minister’s making vulgar statements.

A logo of a Nippon Television Network Corp. program is displayed in the video as well.

There have been instances overseas where similar fake videos of politicians have been created to manipulate public opinion.

The AI-generated video shows the Kishida-like image in a suit speaking directly to the camera. Along with the program logo, a “Breaking News” caption is displayed in a style to mimic the prime minister’s online press conferences.

The Yomiuri Shimbun tracked down the 25-year-old man from Osaka Prefecture who said he created and posted the fake video using generative AI, saying he did it “for fun.”

Nippon TV commented: “The misuse is completely unacceptable. We will take appropriate measures as necessary.”

A portion of the fake video was posted on Thursday on X and had been viewed more than 2.32 million times on the platform as of Friday.