Jakarta – An engineered video (AI) has been spread showing President Joko Widodo giving a speech in Mandarin at a meeting.
In the video, President Joko Widodo appears to speak Mandarin very fluently and shows extraordinary linguistic skills. Many observers and artificial intelligence experts doubt the authenticity of the video. Indonesian Communicologist Emrus Sihombing is no exception, who also questioned the authenticity of the video which has spread on social media.
“What I question is when it is made in Mandarin, why not in written or text form, but in spoken form? “Even though the video of the speech should still have been delivered by Mr President Jokowi using his native language, namely English,” he said.
Emrus added that the video could give rise to multiple interpretations as if President Jokowi was part of China’s economic interests.
“On the other hand, because it was delivered in Mandarin, and in a voice that is similar to Mr. Joko Widodo’s voice, it can give rise to multiple interpretations among people who think that Mr. Joko Widodo is part of China’s economic interests,” he added.
Furthermore, Indonesian Communicologist Emrus asked the Ministry of Communication and Information to take down the doctored video of President Joko Widodo’s speech and provide clarification to the public regarding the video.
“This should immediately be taken down by the Ministry of Communication and Information, or at least the Ministry of Communication and Information should explain to the public the video of the President’s speech which was delivered as if it were spoken in Mandarin in a massive way,” he said in full.
Emrus also emphasized that there were interests behind the manipulation and distribution of the doctored video. The public and social media users are asked to be wary of all forms of fake videos circulating so as not to be provoked and to urge the authorities to take firm action against perpetrators of the fabrication and distribution of President Joko Widodo’s videos because they could pose a serious threat to political stability.
“I think the person who made the video has certain interests and motives. “Therefore, strict action needs to be taken so that it does not become a serious threat to political stability,” he concluded.