This week, Facebook announced several significant changes to the way it handles AI generated content on its platforms, including clearly labeling all examples of fake photos and videos. However, the company also went out of its way to downplay concerns that this technology could be used by bad actors to influence upcoming elections around the world.

Ever since the controversial US presidential election of 2016, Facebook has been heavily criticized for not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation and harmful content surrounding elections. But the company said that this kind of AI generated spam so far hasn’t been an issue.

“It is right that we should be alert and we should be vigilant, but of the major elections which have taken place already this year… it is striking how little these tools have been used in a systematic basis to really try to subvert and disrupt the elections,” Facebook executive Nick Clegg said.

“I would urge everyone to think of AI as a sword, not just a shield, when it comes to bad content,” he continued. “The single biggest reason why we’re getting better and better and better in reducing the bad content that we don’t want on our walls, on Instagram and Facebook and for so-on, is for one reason: AI.”

While it’s encouraging Facebook thinks its own AI is powerful to contain this problem, the company’s confidence when it comes to controlling content is hard to trust.

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