Call for AI rules after fake video of mayor made

A fake video of a city council mayor has prompted calls for more stringent rules around the use of AI videos in politics.

The video at the centre of the row appeared to show mayor Ashley Bowkett saying he would not allow councillors to investigate the "missing £8m this year" and then laughing at the camera.

It refers to Gloucester City Council, which is asking for a government bailout after years of multiple overspends, and prompted the call for new AI rules from a former mayor and the council's leader.

The independent councillor who made it, Alastair Chambers, stands by the video because of a disagreement over when to have a debate about the city's finances, in December or January.

The incident has been reported to the council's monitoring officer, although Chambers said he has not been made aware of a complaint.

Kathy Williams, the former Conservative mayor in the city, said the role was apolitical and "it's very difficult when you're in office to make too much about it".

She wants more stringent rules around professional standards in council meetings and AI.

"The AI thing is a new tool," Williams said. "It has its advantages, because it will help people, but it also has disadvantages."

Digital Resistance is a company based in the West trying to protect people vulnerable to AI threats by delivering digital education so people can learn to spot it.

James Vincent, the founder, said the technology was advancing too quickly for society to keep up with what was real and what was fake.

"There needs to be a law - especially around AI politics - that actually protects individuals in saying that politicians or people within power should not be generating this kind of content and distributing it," Vincent said.

The business owner also thinks there should be a much more regulation over publishing AI content in general.

The Liberal Democrats condemned the video, with Gloucester City Council leader Jeremy Hilton comparing it to "psychological bullying".

"This was an attempt to create some psychological bullying towards the mayor of Gloucester and the councillor in question should be ashamed of himself," Hilton said.

In a statement afterwards, the mayor clarified at "no point did he refuse the meeting".

Bowkett said a "special meeting should be held" but felt a January meeting would allow councillors more time to "review and reflect" on the financial information provided.

The emergency debate ended up taking place in December after conversations with the Conservative leader Stephanie Chambers, which Bowkett ultimately agreed with.

Chambers said the video was a "recreation, not a deep fake, a recreation of what was said".

"I've spoke to the mayor about it since, we've had a handshake and we also had a little cuddle, so the mayor can't be too fussed about it," he said.

On whether Chambers inflicted "psychological bullying" as is claimed by Hilton, Chambers said Hilton wanted to "create smoke and mirrors" and "hide the fact" the administration had "lost" millions of pounds.

The Liberal Democrats dispute this claim, saying old debts were to blame.

On the use of artificial intelligence in politics, Chambers said AI was an important tool and he would not mind people making a fake video of him.

"I've got rugby friends that have put videos of me running around with a woman's bikini on, not a problem at all, keep them coming."

The government has been in a recent battle with social media platform X over its AI service Grok.

The government has already made number of additions to the Online Safety Act and has threatened more stringent regulation, but has not been clear on what that would look like.

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