Something is still bothering me about the story that 9News Melbourne used a generative AI tool on this image of Victorian MP Georgie Purcell, putting her in a more revealing outfit (a crop top and skirt) than the one she was actually wearing (a dress). Well, a couple of things actually.

First is that I saw a lot of male journalists and commentators miss the point by fixating on whether or not the explanation giving by 9News Director Hugh Nailon was ‘plausible’. The fact that the AI tool generated an inappropriate outfit for Purcell should not matter because the graphics or production editor should have looked at the image, thought “hmm, an MP with an exposed midriff – that’s not right” and either tried again or looked for a different photo. But that didn’t happen precisely because the 9News team (producing news through a conservative lens) looked at Purcell (a young woman with tattoos and platinum hair who is advocating for progressive policy) and assumed that she would wear a midriff-baring outfit in an professional photo. That’s the misogyny; the assumption that the image was correct.

Put it this way: say Photoshop generated an image of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (who was featured in the same graphic) in a crop top. Or any other ‘serious’ politician like Tanya Plibersek, Penny Wong, Michaelia Cash. Would the 9News team still run it? Of course not! Purcell’s legitimacy and reputation was already undermined in the conservative mind because of her appearance and her progressive values.

The issue at hand in this story has very little to do with AI. If 9News had a real photo of Purcell from a non-professional setting, like at the gym or a friend’s birthday, it would still be unacceptable for them to use it in contrast to Premier Allen pictured in professional attire. Media outlets use images to signal to the audience how they should feel about the content of the story; conservative media use real images to demean outspoken women every day.

Which brings me to my main point: AI is becoming a very convenient scapegoat. I think we’ll soon be seeing “the robot did it!” used as an excuse to explain ‘mistakes’ made by companies that aren't mistakes at all. It’s the perfect fall guy – a faceless tool that is already so poorly understood and mistrusted. When AI can be blamed for spreading misinformation, for actions that are misogynistic or racist, where does the accountability go? Nowhere; we just get angry at the tech. It creates distance between the action and the perpetrator. You no longer need to explain your intentions or processes – when everything is a mistake that just ‘happened’, you don’t need to use active voice in the apology statement.

When you consider how misinformation is used to justify human rights abuses, and currently more than one genocide, the AI excuse is terrifying. Just this week, NSW Police confirmed what journalists Antoinette Lattouf and Cam Wilson had already investigated – pro-Palestine protestors did not chant “gas the Jews” outside the Sydney Opera House in October 2023. The claim that “gas the Jews” was said comes only from captioning on the video of the protest, which went viral* and was covered extensively in international media. Without speculating what happened in this instance, bad actors could intentionally create disinformation, spread it widely, only to turn around and say: “Oops, AI got the captions/transcript/translation wrong.”

Once misinfo or disinfo is out there it is very difficult to control. A correction issued just won’t reach some people, and they’ll live the rest of their lives believing the lie. Last year, CNET admitted more than half of its AI-enhanced articles contained factual inaccuracies. We all know that AI constantly gets shit very wrong. So what’s to stop anyone deliberately spreading misinformation, and reaching for the AI excuse only if they get caught? Nothing.

It’s so simple, so believable, so alarming.

– Crystal
Founder & Chief of Everything at Zee Feed
Follow me on Instagram or TikTok

*The viral video was originally shared, and captioned, by the Australian Jewish Association on Twitter. They do not claim that the captioning was an AI error; they say the NSW Police conclusion is incorrect and insist that ‘gas the Jews’ was chanted at the Sydney Opera House. The Australian Jewish Association is a right-wing and pro-Israel lobby group. It is not an official or representative body for Jewish people in Australia.

Good stuff on Zee Feed rn:

When was the last time you had one-on-one time with your grandparents? This interview with Outback Tom on the beautiful friendship he has with his Grandad Steve made me really miss mine (two in heaven, two in Perth). Take this as a reminder to call them! CLICK HERE TO READ.

Smart stuff on the Internet 💭

All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:

Everyone’s a sellout now on Vox
Incredibly comprehensive piece on self-promotion that is very relevant to me, a writer who does not want to put her face on TikTok. "You’ve got to offer your content to the hellish, overstuffed, harassment-laden, uber-competitive attention economy because otherwise no one will know who you are. ‘neoliberalism has created so much precarity that the commodification of the self is now seen as the only route to any kind of economic security’.”

These Billionaires Want to Disrupt Death — and Keep Their Fortunes Forever on Mother Jones
“About a decade ago, Scottsdale attorney Mark House was working on the contested estate of a man who’d had himself frozen. In the process, he grew smitten with the legal issues around reviving the dead. Rich “grantors” routinely use trusts to channel fortunes to their heirs. Maybe a thawed grantor could pass as his own heir! ‘You don’t wanna come back poor,’ House explains.”

Writing in the Genocide a series of poems by Omar Sakr
Australian writer Omar Sakra has been regularly publishing short poems on Twitter since December. They are haunting, beautiful and speak to the unreal experience of witnessing this from afar.

Stage 3 Tax Cuts for Dummies on FBi Radio
I was on FBi Radio’s politics show, Backchat, this weekend to explain the Stage 3 tax cuts in plain language. Bec Crenshaw & I manage to cover the basics and the conservative-media beat up in a 10-minute segment – not too bad!

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