Generative AI faces major test as Indonesia holds election

Fika Juliana Putri, a 19-year-old shopkeeper in East Jakarta, plans to vote in Indonesia's presidential election next week for a once-feared former special forces commander. She likes him, she says, because he's cuddly. A doe-eyed cartoon version of former Gen. Prabowo Subianto -- produced using generative artificial intelligence -- is emblazoned on billboards across Indonesia. It's reproduced on sweatshirts and stickers, and featured prominently on #Prabowo-tagged posts that have some 19 billion views on TikTok. Prabowo is Indonesia's defense minister.