Steven Miles slams video of premier performing tone-deaf act amid cost-of-living crisis – but not all is as it seems

Steven Miles has slammed an AI-generated video of himself dancing, labelling it a ‘dangerous turning point in democracy’.

The 14-second clip posted by the Liberal National Party depicted the image of the Queensland Premier having a boogie to the song ‘Closer’ – a popular Ne-Yo hit from the late 2000s. 

With a state election looming on October 26, the deepfake took aim at the government for having the ‘wrong priorities’. 

‘POV: my rent is up $60 a week, my power bill is up 20 per cent, but the premier made a sandwich on TikTok,’ it was captioned. 

The tail end of the caption refers to an Instagram video the Premier made last week where he filmed himself making a sandwich for his children. 

The video was tagged by the LNP as generative artificial intelligence technology. 

Mr Miles slammed Opposition leader David Crisafulli, calling the video a ‘dangerous turning point for democracy’. 

He said the clip was an important reminder not to believe everything you see on social media. 

‘It’s appalling and disgusting that David Crisafulli has stooped to using AI and deepfake videos to attack me,’ the Premier told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘David Crisafulli needs to explain why he thinks this is ok. It’s a test of his character.

‘In a time when misinformation is everywhere, we as politicians have a duty to communicate with our audiences and to voters clearly and honestly.’ 

While there are currently no rules to stop political parties or candidates from using AI-generated material in electoral advertising, as long as they include a disclaimer, the Premier said his party had no plans to use AI.

However, the LNP wasted no time pointing out Mr Miles has also been guilty of posting artificially generated political content. 

Mr Crisafulli’s office said he shared a photo on Instagram in May, with the caption: ‘We asked AI to make a graphic about 50 cent fares in Queensland’.

A spokeswoman for Shadow Minister for Integrity in Government Fiona Simpson said it was hypocritical of Mr Miles to call out a ‘plainly labelled’ video.

‘This whole thing has now blown up in Steven Miles’ face… and the Labor Party have been caught red-handed in their own lies and faux outrage,’ she said. 

‘Imagine if Steven Miles and the Labor Party put as much focus into fixing the housing, health, cost of living and youth crime crises in Queensland instead of these baseless scare campaigns and personal attacks.

‘Labor has already told Queenslanders not to look at their record in government and sadly this is another example of how much the Labor Party will attempt to deflect from their horrible record in the lead up to the October election.’

The Premier has been called out after he admitted to using AI earlier this year

In a submission to an AI inquiry earlier this year the Australian Electoral Commission  said it was focused on the impacts the technology on ‘electoral integrity and citizen trust’. 

Home Affairs minister Clare O’Neil told Sunrise on Wednesday that videos like this are ‘a political cartoon designed for the modern age’.

‘I don’t think it looks real and that is important,’ she said.

‘What I would say, we actually have a pretty serious issue around AI-generated deepfakes.

‘That’s not what this is; this is political cartoonage, really.

‘For me, this is mockery that in frank terms [fellow panelist Jane Hume] and I are pretty used to as politicians.’