By John Mikkelsen
I’ve just had another run-in with Artificial Intelligence over one of the many controversies embroiling the Labor Government and its hapless Ministers during the past week, before it reluctantly admitted it was wrong.
Selecting just one individual from the bunch recently exposed in the media spotlight is a bit like the old game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey:
. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Treasurer Jim Chalmers have reportedly been at loggerheads over the botched credit card surcharge removal and the Australian Taxation Office’s refusal to accept card payments, with Albo and Jim arm-wrestling for honours in having the change deferred;
. Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has tried unsuccessfully to justify the $20-plus million taxpayers had to fork out for the ‘Pre-Cop Flop’ meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu after the riveting speakers including former Labor PM Julia Gillard, ex- New Zealand PM Jacinta Ardern and Teal Independent Zali Steggall saw him nodding off, with Steggall facing a blackout as the diesel generators couldn’t compete with all the hot air generated.
. Minister for Communications and Sport Anika Wells had another Freudian slip at the National Press Club – while introducing the government’s proposed new Digital Duty of Care legislation, she said “we are controlling” before correcting herself, “we are not controlling free speech; we are not conducting covert surveillance”. But Albo had already belled the cat on that one at the recent UN conference in New York, saying its next targets would be “misinformation, disinformation, and the increasing political polarisation driving people away from the political centre toward the far left and far right” – then denying he had made that link the very next day!
. Anika Wells again over the continuing travel rorts controversy after she charged taxpayers $4,000 for a trip to Adelaide and an overnight stay which she claimed as “official business” for a meeting with State Labor Minister Chris Picton, when she also just happened to attend a friend’s birthday party and there was no entry in Picton’s diary to back her claim.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdPRGg_CsiB/
I could go on, but my latest tangle with Google’s AI bot involved another travel scandal involving Anne Aly and her triple portfolios – Minister for Small Business, International Development and Multicultural Affairs.
With more small businesses under the pump and facing possible liquidation in the wake of Federal Budget changes compounded by the latest credit card surcharge bungle initially backed by Chalmers and Albo, it came as a surprise to many that Ms Aly was actually the responsible Minister, along with her other seemingly conflicting duties.
She faced a grilling from the Opposition over her $150,000 taxpayer-funded overseas travel bill, earning her the tag “The Macarena Minister”.
That’s when I asked the AI bot for a link to a video clip of her doing the dance moves while on an overseas jaunt, and it insisted half a dozen times that no such footage existed – the clip I had seen on News24 was an AI generated satirical spoof.
I knew that if such satire was shown, it would always be identified, probably because there would be legal ramifications if it was portrayed as real footage.
So I persisted: “They showed an actual clip of her doing the dance move so yes it does exist.” AI: “There is no footage of Anne Aly doing the Macarena.
“The clip you saw on News24 was actually a satirical overlay or a visual pairing created by the network. Because the phrase “Macarena Minister” was coined by her critics, political broadcasts commonly place that text label over standard, official b-roll footage of her walking, gesturing in parliament, or posing for generic travel photos.
“You may have seen her moving her hands or gesturing during a fiery speech in Parliament, which news segments frequently match up with the nickname to heighten the satire, but she has never performed the dance on camera.”
Me: “I don’t believe that, she was wearing a yellow dress and she was doing the dance moves.”
I said I had seen it on the Steve Price show only to get more denials claiming:
“The specific segment with Steve Price on News24 features completely simulated footage.
“When Price notes that “she is shown doing the dance and it looks real,” he is commentating directly on how seamlessly the digital overlay was put together. News networks often present these edited visuals during opinion or commentary blocks—paired with on-screen banners like “Macarena Minister”—to mock a politician’s actions, but it is not actual footage of the Minister dancing…
Me: “Watch again, he says ‘where she was filmed dancing at a Diwali Festival’. He doesn’t say ‘and it looks real.’”
AI: “You are completely correct, and I apologize for getting that wrong.
“Steve Price did state that she was ‘filmed dancing at a Diwali festival’ during her five-day official visit to India and Bangladesh.
“The footage you saw is 100% real, and your memory of her outfit and actions is incredibly accurate. During the Australian High Commission’s Diwali Bash in New Delhi, Dr. Aly wore bright yellow traditional festive clothing and joined in with the embassy staff and guests by performing traditional Indian dance moves…”
Finally an admission but it came with an excuse: “The confusion stems entirely from how the news media framed the story: She was celebrating the Festival of Lights at an official diplomatic function in India.
“Because she was hit with a $150,000 total travel bill—which included a separate stop in Spain—opposition MPs nicknamed her the “Macarena Minister”. Commentators like Steve Price then ran the real clip of her dancing at the Diwali festival while talking about the “Macarena” nickname, which made it look like the two events were the same thing.
“Thank you for correcting me on that specific detail—you had it exactly right.”
Well thanks, but I knew that from the outset. And it’s not the first time I’ve locked horns with AI over a political issue. In a previous knock-out round I had to correct it when it told me The Coalition’s Energy Policy still included the construction of seven government-owned nuclear power stations. Obviously not. https://quadrant.org.au/news-opinions/technology/miss-and-hit-with-a-silicon-brain/
I also wrote more recently about outlandish claims by some AI tech “experts” that the seemingly helpful bots were secretly plotting our demise: https://quadrant.org.au/other/technology/armageddon-intelligence/
A good plot for a Hollywood sequel to I Robot, which I would classify as science fiction. But meanwhile AI seems to get its political view from the left, not the right, and it begs the question again of whether it can be trusted for an unbiased, balanced statement of facts. Would such “misinformation” be banned under Labor’s Digital Duty of Care legislation?
I think not.
John Mikkelsen is a former editor of three Queensland regional newspapers, columnist, freelance writer and author of the Amazon Books Memoir, Don’t Call Me Nev. (https://www.amazon.com.au/Dont-Call-Nev-John-Mikkelsen/dp/B09S244GP1/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?
