AI risks in Bangladesh's elections: A reality

ANALYSIS COMMENTARY

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(VISUAL: MONOROM POLOK)

In recent days, my social media feeds have been filled with high-definition images of women in saris.

At first, they seemed ordinary, but my journalistic instinct said otherwise. Most of these women are not the "dolled-up" type, nor was it a festive season. As an AI researcher, I recognised the trend as synthetic. The images looked strikingly real, and what surprised me most was how quickly prompts spread through comments and captions—AI knowledge shared in real time.

This comes just as the Election Commission, in early September, issued guidelines ahead of February's parliamentary polls, which included banning the misuse of AI in campaigns and banning posters. Together, they show that social media will be the main political arena, raising the question: what happens when AI becomes the weapon of choice inside it?

September also marks the 13th anniversary of the Ramu attack. On September 29, 2012, a fake Facebook post triggered violence in Cox's Bazar, where 12 Buddhist temples and more than 50, mostly belonging to the Buddhist community, were destroyed. Thirteen years later, justice has still not been served. That tragedy began with a single fabricated image, long before AI was part of the story. Today, the risks are far greater. In 2012, Bangladesh had 30 million internet users. Now, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the number has soared to nearly 136 million. With smartphones everywhere, it takes only a few prompts to generate photos, videos, or audio, and spreading them is effortless.