Artificial intelligence had threatened to upend the general election with deep fakes and voice-clones, but few imagined a situation where a candidate would be forced to deny accusations of being a computer-generated robot.
Mark Matlock, a candidate for Reform UK, has been forced to confirm he is a real person after a digitally altered image led to widespread accusations that he was AI-generated.
Matlock, who came fifth in Clapham & Brixton Hill, prompted suspicion when he did not show up for his constituency count on Thursday.
Some of Matlock’s election campaign material subsequently went viral on social media, with users noting that his appearance looked as if it had been modified.
Matlock admitted the picture used on his leaflet had been doctored. He said he had used AI software to adjust a picture because he did not have a photo of him wearing a tie in Reform’s signature turquoise.
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As well as changing the colour of his tie, the background of his campaign image had been replaced with the Reform logo. Matlock did not attend the count because he had pneumonia, he added.
After a Guardian report claimed Reform was “under pressure” to prove all its candidates were real, Matlock told The Independent: “I am a real person and that is me in the photo.
“Though I must admit, I am enjoying the free publicity and when I feel up to it I will put out a video and prove these rumours that I’m a robot are absolute baloney.
“I got pneumonia three days before election night. I was exercising, taking vitamins so I could attend but it was just not viable. On election night I couldn’t even stand.
“The photo of me was taken outside the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. I had the background removed and replaced with the logo and they changed the colour of my tie. The only reason that was done was because we couldn’t get a photographer at such short notice — but that is me.”
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Matlock said his initial reaction to the online conspiracy theories was amusement. “I just laughed when I saw it,” he said. “I think it perked me up. I thought, ‘I need to get back out there.’ This is doing more good for me than my campaign — it’s fantastic.”
His political rivals had been quick to raise concerns about Matlock’s authenticity.
Shao-Lan Yuen, the Green Party candidate for the south London seat, told the Byline Times website: “I haven’t seen or heard from the Reform UK candidate for Clapham & Brixton Hill constituency. He wasn’t at the hustings. I’ve heard suspicions that the image on his leaflets are AI generated.”
In a subsequent interview with GB News, Matlock said: “There have been a few who’ve used this opportunity to make headline news — and I call it fake news. There’s a massive agenda that’s out to get our party and they’ve used this opportunity to do so. But look, they’re not all bad people — a lot of them have been good people. It is what it is.”
Last week Morgan Tara Young, who lives in Derbyshire, admitted she was a “paper candidate” for Reform 200 miles away in Dorset, a county she had visited once on holiday.
