Secret recordings of politicians could be “dangerous” in age of AI, says Leitrim Cllr
Paddy O'Rourke says that secret recordings of politicians could cause problems of disinformation in the age of AI
A Leitrim councillor has said that the video of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern sets a dangerous precedent for canvassers in Ireland.
In the video, Ahern is secretly recorded while on a canvass in the Dublin Central By-election, where he makes comments on immigration.
In the video shared to social media, Bertie Ahern can be heard saying that although he has no problem with Ukrainians fleeing war coming into Ireland, he said "the ones I'm worried about are the Africans...we can't be taking in people from the Congo and these places. I think there are too many."
He then goes on to say he is worried about "the next generation of Muslims and some of the kids that are growing up."
The video has received backlash from immigrant groups in the country, and An Taoiseach has come out to distance Fianna Fáil from the comments, which he described as “not appropriate”
"We have to respect people with many different ethnicities in Ireland, many Irish citizens with different ethnic backgrounds, and that has to be respected."
Leitrim Fianna Fáil councillor, Paddy O’Rourke, has said that he does not believe that the former Taoiseach's views on immigration are as simple as the video presents, and that he could have been people-pleasing at the moment.
“Maybe the former Taoiseach felt that he was compelled to say what the people in that particular area of the north inner city were proclaiming to be their view.”
“I'll be honest with you, I've never engaged in that kind of nonsense, trying to be a people pleaser, because from my experience, you're always better nearly level with people, and if the news is bad or if your view doesn't concur with theirs, you have to agree to disagree.”
He adds that he would be sceptical of the motivations of anyone who makes secret recordings of politicians on the doorstep.
“It's not an honourable thing to do,” he says. “To me, the person who has the least credibility in all of this is a person who felt it necessary to covertly record a conversation that was taking place in good faith between two people.”
In the age of AI, he feels that there is a chance for videos to be easily edited by dishonest actors, which poses a real issue.
“A lot can be done with a recording to manufacture a different outcome than was actual … this new departure, this business of recording messages and recording interviews that take place between them, it gives it a whole different dimension and to me a dangerous dimension because of its vulnerability to being tweaked and being broadcast in a particular context that gives it a different meaning.”