The election battle in UP has gone high-tech: BJP and SP clash over AI-generated videos, sparking a war

Lucknow (Special Report): The election season in Uttar Pradesh has now moved beyond traditional rallies and posters, embracing a new digital battleground. The state’s two major political forces—the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP)—are locked in an “AI video war” (artificial intelligence). On social media platforms, both parties are targeting each other’s top leaders, policies, and past tenures through AI-generated videos, animated clips, and deepfake technology.

Targeting each other using AI technology

Both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party are actively using AI tools to attract voters in the election season. While the BJP is showcasing security, development, and infrastructure improvements in the state through AI-generated videos, the Samajwadi Party is creating satirical content on the law and order situation during the previous SP regime. The Samajwadi Party, on the other hand, is not far behind; the SP is using modern digital clips to criticize the BJP government on issues like unemployment, inflation, and government promises through AI videos.

Controversy deepens over misuse of AI and deepfakes

These videos, circulating on social media, have sparked a fierce war of words among political leaders. Political analysts believe that this use of AI technology to influence public sentiment is making election campaigns more aggressive. However, the emergence of fake voice cloning and edited deepfake videos of politicians has also increased the risk of fake news and misleading propaganda. The Election Commission and cyber experts are closely monitoring this digital AI war to ensure it does not pose a new challenge to the fairness of elections and law and order.