Mahama warns against AI-generated misinformation and fake videos on digital platforms

President John Dramani Mahama has raised concerns about the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create fake videos, images and audio recordings, warning that the development poses a serious challenge to public trust and information integrity.

He said although digital platforms had made it easier for Ghanaians to participate in public discourse and draw attention to problems in their communities, they had also accelerated the spread of false information.

Speaking at the 30th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Media Awards, President Mahama noted that misleading content could reach thousands, if not millions, of people before the facts were established.

“Digital platforms have made it easier for Ghanaians to join the public discourse and draw attention to problems in their communities. They’ve also enabled false claims to reach thousands, if not millions, of people before the facts are made known,” he said.

He cited an incident in which a video showing people in Liberia exposing poor road construction was allegedly manipulated with a voiceover and circulated in Ghana to create the impression that the incident had occurred locally.

“Recently, a video of people in Liberia exposing shoddy roadworks had a voiceover planted on it and recirculated in Ghana as if the events happened here in our country,” he stated.

President Mahama further warned that artificial intelligence was making it increasingly difficult for people to distinguish fabricated content from genuine recordings, particularly when prominent personalities were impersonated.

“Artificial intelligence also makes fake images and recordings of people that are uncannily lifelike and easily pass for reality,” he said.

He disclosed that scammers had used AI-generated content to portray him as endorsing various investment schemes, potentially misleading unsuspecting members of the public.

“Some of these are outright scams, in which artificial intelligence is used to portray even myself as President or other prominent persons promoting investments in one scheme or another,” he said.

The President recounted receiving enquiries from members of the public who had come across such fabricated endorsements and wanted to establish whether they were genuine.

“I have people call me and say, ‘Mr President, is this real?’ And I say, ‘Why would the President be promoting investments in a scheme? You should know it’s a scam,’” he recounted.

President Mahama described the development as one of the emerging challenges of the new media environment, stressing the need for vigilance in an era when manipulated content can easily be mistaken for authentic information.