Viennese warns

“US election campaign characterized by fake news, AI and memes”

Artist Stephanie Meisl spent several hours collecting propaganda material from the US election campaign for an art project. The communication scientist warns of the consequences for democracy.(Bild: Sandra Hallinger)

The US election campaign is increasingly turning out to be a threat to democracy. A Viennese artist now warns: "Without control, we are also threatened by a flood of false information in Europe and Austria!" And thanks to artificial intelligence, anyone can become a propaganda muckraker.

It's quiet in the office, the glow of the monitor flickers through the room. A TikTok video is playing on the screen, one of 4,000 that Viennese artist and AI expert Stephanie Meisl has collected since February. She has accumulated around 23 hours of material. With a deep breath, she begins to describe the effects of what she calls "the creeping, invisible danger".