Two viral videos showing ordinary Filipinos weighing against Vice President Sarah Duterte’s ammo each rekindled national debate, not because of their content, but because of revelations both created using artificial intelligence.
The first clip, widely shared on social media, featured a digital school boy questioning the motivation behind Duterte’s bluff each. “Why do you choose a VP?” the AI-generated character asks, suggesting political bias in the process. The second showed an older computer-generated woman who sold fish and criticised the Senate for not pursuing a trial. Both clips have accumulated millions of views.
Neither video portrays real people.
Using AI in Duterte’s controversial empire context has attracted attention to how synthetic media shapes Philippine political discourse. Senate lawmakers dismissed the Munitions each case that passed into the House earlier this month, citing constitutional concerns. Conviction would have removed Duterte from his job and banned her from politics for the rest of her life.
Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa of Duterte Ally shared the Schoolboy video in praise of the message. “Even if it’s AI… I agree with that point,” he said. Vice President Duterte said there are no issues with the video. “I have no problem sharing AI videos that support me,” she told reporters.
Online investigators and fact checkers quickly identify both clips as AI-generated, focusing on teletail signs, such as visual inconsistencies and faint watermarks from Google’s VEO platform.
Bernard Senocip, creator of Fish Vendor Video, told AFP it took five minutes to generate the 8-second clip. He defended the use of AI as a way for citizens to share their opinions without facing a severe online backlash. “I think it’s fine as long as you know your limits and don’t mislead your audience,” he said.
The Schoolboy video was created by an anonymous administrator of Ay Grabe on the Facebook page.
Experts warn that such content blurs the line between public sentiment and synthetic storytelling. Jose Mari Lanuza of Sigla Research Center says that personas generated by AI “make beliefs appear more popular than they actually are,” which can undermine trust in the democratic process.
“This content is distrustful of the ammo each process, not just for certain lawmakers,” he said.
Jose Miguerito Enriquez, a researcher at Nanyan University of Technology, pointed out the challenges pose by AI-generated personas. While some platforms prohibit deeper things from real people, fictional characters expressing real political views fall into the “gray realm,” he said.
Google, where the VEO platform was used to generate the video, did not respond to questions about protection against misuse.
Dominic Ligot, founder of Data and AI Ethics PH, said it is even more persuasive due to the evolving quality of AI tools. “VEO is just the latest in a rapidly evolving set of tools in the AI media generation,” he warned that AI is increasingly being used to shake up opinions, put pressure on decision-makers and distort public debate.
