Interior Minister De Jonge concerned about AI and rise in disinformation

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to voters being exposed to more disinformation, the purposeful distribution of factually incorrect messages to influence people, said Interior Affairs Minister Hugo de Jonge. “We need to assume that the intensity of 'disinfo' will increase significantly over the coming period. We ain’t seen nothing yet. This will keep us busy on a different scale.”

De Jonge made his point during a debate in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament. The “impact and massiveness” of disinformation has already increased significantly due to AI, De Jonge said.

However, he also said he sees opportunities to combat disinformation using AI. The minister would not share specifics about how that could be done.

European countries want to develop an approach together due to the dangers of disinformation. De Jonge added that the Netherlands “immediately reported” to the workgroup.

"All this still needs to take form and content, which has not yet been worked out. But we want to be there for that as we want to be at the front of this. We already do a lot, but we need to do more."