{"id":37090,"date":"2023-12-18T22:50:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T22:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/ex-pm-imran-uses-ai-voice-clone-to-campaign-from-jail-in-virtual-pti-rally\/"},"modified":"2023-12-18T22:50:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T22:50:06","slug":"ex-pm-imran-uses-ai-voice-clone-to-campaign-from-jail-in-virtual-pti-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ex-pm-imran-uses-ai-voice-clone-to-campaign-from-jail-in-virtual-pti-rally\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-PM Imran uses AI voice clone to campaign from jail in virtual PTI rally"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Artificial intelligence allowed former prime minister Imran Khan to campaign from behind bars with a voice clone of his giving an impassioned speech on his behalf during a virtual PTI rally.<\/p>\n<p>Imran has been in jail since August. He is being tried for leaking classified documents, allegations he says have been trumped up to stop him from contesting general elections due on February 8.<\/p>\n<p>But the PTI used artificial intelligence to make a four-minute message from the 71-year-old, headlining a \u201cvirtual rally\u201d hosted on social media overnight on Sunday into Monday despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1798656\/social-media-platforms-across-pakistan-face-disruption-as-ptis-virtual-gathering-underway-netblocks\">internet disruptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  w-full  w-full  media--stretch  media--embed  \">\n<p><div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"\ud83d\udd34 LIVE | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf\u2019s First Virtual Powershow\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fxA5fuSUINc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The PTI said Imran sent a shorthand script through lawyers which was fleshed out into his rhetorical lingo.<\/p>\n<p>The text was then dubbed into audio using a tool from AI firm ElevenLabs, which boasts the ability to create a \u201cvoice clone\u201d from existing speech samples.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy fellow Pakistanis, I would first like to praise the social media team for this historic attempt,\u201d the voice mimicking Imran said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe you all are wondering how I am doing in jail,\u201d the stilted voice adds. \u201cToday, my determination for real freedom is very strong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur party is not allowed to hold public rallies,\u201d Imran said in the clip, urging supporters to turn out in large numbers during the general elections. \u201cOur people are being kidnapped and their families are being harassed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The audio was broadcast at the end of a five-hour live stream of speeches by PTI supporters on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, and was overlaid with historic footage of the former prime minister and still images.<\/p>\n<p>It was bookended with genuine video clips from the former cricketer\u2019s previous speeches according to the PTI, but a caption appeared at intervals flagging it as the \u201cAI voice of Imran Khan based on his notes\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was a no-brainer for us when Imran Khan is no longer there to actually meet at a political rally,\u201d said US-based PTI social media chief Jibran Ilyas. \u201cIt was to get over the suppression.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1796034\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>PTI was the first political party in the country to widely harness the potential of social media, using apps to target younger audiences who carried them to power five years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to get in election mode,\u201d Ilyas told <em>AFP<\/em>. \u201cNo PTI political rally is complete without Imran Khan.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1766649\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Global network monitor NetBlocks said social media was restricted for seven hours starting late on Sunday in an incident \u201cconsistent with previous instances of internet censorship\u201d targeting the PTI chief.<\/p>\n<p>The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said the interruptions were being investigated but that internet accessibility overall appeared to be normal.<\/p>\n<p>Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said the query on internet disruptions could be referred to the telecom regulator or the information ministry, saying, \u201cI have no information about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He, however, didn\u2019t respond to whether it was a violation of free speech and assembly mandated by election laws for a free and fair voting, which in this case could be a pre-poll rigging.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, the virtual rally was viewed by more than 4.5 million people across Facebook, X and YouTube.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t very convincing,\u201d said 38-year-old business manager Syed Muhammad Ashar in the eastern city of Lahore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe grammar was strange too. But I will give them marks for trying,\u201d he said. \u201cFrankly, nothing can replace a real rally and a real speech,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>But media worker Hussain Javed Afroze praised the digitally-delivered oration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo other party uses technology like PTI does,\u201d the 42-year-old said. \u201cThese are new tools, so I think it\u2019s a positive thing to use them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artificial intelligence allowed former prime minister Imran Khan to campaign from behind bars with a voice clone of his giving an impassioned speech on his behalf during a virtual PTI rally. Imran has been in jail since August. He is being tried for leaking classified documents, allegations he says have been trumped up to stop [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/12\/18190230a09914c.jpg?r=190529","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}