AI abuse is in the spotlight in Zambia after an audio recording went viral implicating the government in an alleged plot to bribe judges in South Africa.
This is the latest twist in the ongoing deadlock between President Hakainde Hichilema and the family of former president, Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa early June.
It is alleged that Hichilema's administration is behind a plot to bribe the South African judges to secure the release of Lungu's body for state burial in the capital Lusaka, against a private ceremony wanted by Lungu's family.
The government recently applied to the Pretoria High Court in South Africa's capital to halt the family's attempt to bury the ex-president in South Africa.
The recording quotes a leader of a faction of the former ruling Patriotic Front (PF), aligned to Hichilema's United Party for National Development (UPND) as owning up to the allegations.
In the recording that has split Zambia, leader of the PF faction, Robert Chabinga, is at the centre of the controversy.
Allegations are that the government deployed him to South Africa to "negotiate" with the judges.
The audio further claims that Chabinga was tasked with organising protests by pressure groups in Zambia and South Africa to incite public outrage that could influence the South African judiciary.
Chabinga has dismissed the audio implicating Hichilema as AI-generated.
"I have noticed the AI audio mimicking me," Chabinga said, adding that this was an offence as per the Cyber Security Act.
"I have since reported the matter to the police and asked lawyers to start preparing for litigation against all those circulating it (an AI generated audio)," Chabinga said.
He blamed the opposition, that was headed by Lungu before his death, of circulating the 'fake' audio.
In response, the UPND said that after the introduction of the Cyber Security Act, the government now had the capacity to diagnose "what is AI and real."
It warned citizens to "circulate offensive data at your own peril."
"The AI-engineered audio about Chabinga is being circulated by finished politicians without any iota of political acumen to debate with Chabinga," UPND stated.
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