Is South Korean the world’s first official deepfake candidate? Meet ‘AI Yoon’, the salty AI making the 2022 presidential election interesting
- ‘AI Yoon’ is a digital avatar of South Korean presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, from the main opposition party
- Deepfake candidate generates buzz, refers to President Moon and his rival Lee Jae-myung as ‘Moon Ding Dong’ and ‘Lee Ding Dong’
In a crowded campaign office in Seoul, young, trendy staffers are using deepfake technology to try to achieve the near-impossible: make a middle-aged, establishment South Korean presidential candidate cool.
Armed with hours of specially-recorded footage of opposition People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, the team has created a digital avatar of the front runner – and set “AI Yoon” loose on the campaign trail ahead of a March 9 election.
From a deepfake video of Barack Obama insulting Donald Trump to failed New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang campaigning in the metaverse, AI technology has been used in elections before.
But AI Yoon’s creators believe he is the world’s first official deepfake candidate – a concept gaining traction in South Korea, which has the world’s fastest average internet speeds.
With neatly-combed black hair and a smart suit, the avatar looks near-identical to the real South Korean candidate but uses salty language and meme-ready quips in a bid to engage younger voters who get their news online.
It’s been a huge hit. AI Yoon has attracted millions of views since making his debut January 1.