Claire Castro: Gov’t officials’ sharing of AI videos erodes public trust

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro. Screengrabbed from RTVM.

MANILA, Philippines — Sharing artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content online erodes public trust, and government officials who do so must acknowledge their actions, a Palace official said on Monday.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro issued the statement when asked for a reaction after Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte shared what appeared to be an AI-generated video on Facebook.

READ: Dela Rosa ridiculed over AI video on Sara Duterte impeachment

“Sharing things like that—again, disinformation, fake news—should not be coming from government officials. It is concerning and erodes trust even more when disinformation and fake news come from high-ranking officials themselves,” Castro, speaking in Filipino, said at a briefing.

“So now that they’ve done it and there’s nothing we can do about it, the least they can do is acknowledge that the video they shared is false and not authentic,” she added.

Call for ethical leadership

Castro further stressed that public officials should be responsible for what they repost online, especially because they have the power to influence people due to their position.

“This is their responsibility, because every word they say to the people—they are leaders—is perceived as truth in the ears and eyes of everyone. So, they must be responsible for any information they share with our fellow citizens,” she said at a briefing.

Dela Rosa and Duterte drew criticism over the weekend after sharing what seemed to be an AI-generated video.

The video featured an “interview” with two male students explaining why they did not support the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. The caption was marked with the hashtag #AI.

Despite this sign, Dela Rosa reposted the video with the caption, written in Filipino, lauding the youth and attacking critics: “Good thing the kids understand what’s happening. Listen up, you yellows and communists!”

Duterte, meanwhile, has already deleted the shared video from his Facebook profile. /mr/abc