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Alice Wu

It’s unfortunate for Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu that his speech on July 1 marking the 29th anniversary of the handover and highlighting his government’s achievements may have been overshadowed by the outcry over an anti-drug video – or at least what was intended as one.
The Correctional Services Department released the video, generated by artificial intelligence (AI), on June 26 before having to pull it twice, ahead of the anniversary.
The video – featuring an appealing K-pop girl band dancing and at certain points singing the praises of the effects of narcotics – received a great deal of attention, with international news coverage and a slew of memes, sticker packs, fan pages, song parodies and selfies.
This level of public engagement generated by a government department is rare. But what went viral is the story of an anti-drug message gone wrong and at this point it’s safe to say that the intended message has been lost.
Thanks to a colossal display of ignorance, incompetence and overzealous use of AI, the video has become an international facepalm sensation.
Someone decided it was a good idea to personify cocaine, crystal meth, cannabis and etomidate as K-pop singers. Someone didn’t seem to realise they were making these drugs look appealing, so much so that social media users had to point this out to the Correctional Services Department.


The department then pulled the video and released an updated version to better highlight the dangers of drug use, but that was taken down after some viewers said it appeared to say that selling and taking drugs would not land a person in prison.
Though some praised the authorities for acting promptly, I’m not sure they actually acted quickly enough, given how much international publicity the video has received.
The Correctional Services Department issued an apology and emphasised that no additional public funds had been used to produce the video. But that also misses the point.
There are professionals who could have helped develop the campaign and put together appealing videos without completely botching the message. However, the Correctional Services Department chose to produce the video in-house with people who probably weren’t an ideal fit for the job. That is also a waste of public funds. In-house staff and AI tools still cost money, after all.
The Correctional Services Department also said that, going forward, it would review its production process. The department should just stick to its primary responsibilities and do them well. Leave public relations work to the professionals. The Security Bureau’s anti-drug banner at an MTR station in March that, viewed from certain angles, read “Stand firm together and take drugs”, was bad enough; the most recent video beat that faux pas by miles.

The imagery alone was so cringingly misogynistic that no official should have approved the video for release. It begs the question of how it was approved in the first place. Has the government streamlined itself so much that there is insufficient management? How are vetting and errors actually being addressed across government departments?
Perhaps there can be redeeming outcomes of becoming the laughing stock of the internet – if the government is willing to learn from the episode. Other than seriously investigating what went wrong in the chain of command, it must re-evaluate its use of AI and its efforts to promote AI use among educators.
South Korea has arguably been at the forefront of adopting generative AI and offers us plenty of lessons to learn from. The country announced a plan to use AI-powered textbooks in 2024. The programme met with so much opposition that the government has essentially pulled the plug on it.

There have also been very serious issues stemming from the proliferation of deepfakes. A video made using AI falsely showing Chief Executive John Lee himself endorsing an investment scheme did the rounds last year.
As Lee steers Hong Kong towards becoming a hub for AI development, is the government ready or, dare we say, knowledgeable enough to regulate AI deployment and protect the people from abusive use of the technology? The Correctional Services Department video suggests the answer is a resounding “no”.
The harmful fallout of the use of AI and the slew of ethical questions arising from it demand that the government be three steps ahead of the game. If the government is unable to properly promote a simple anti-drug message, it’s an embarrassing and ominous harbinger of what is to come.


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Hong Kong politics

Anti-drug video fiasco not a vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s AI goals

The Correctional Services Department twice pulled an anti-drug video featuring an AI-generated K-pop girl group after internet users said it looked more like a drugs promotion campaign. Photo: Facebook / Correctional Services Department

People walk past a Security Bureau anti-drug ad installation that reads “Stand firm together and take drugs” from some angles, at Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station in March. Photo: Threads / Nicie_life

Children interact with AI robotic dog Spot during the Learning and Teaching Expo 2024 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on December 11, 2024. Photo: Nora Tam

Hong Kong’s AI push needs a broader vision and more realistic goals

People walk past an AI ambassador in a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui East on June 14. Photo: Karma Lo

An engineer trains a humanoid robot to do household tasks in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on May 22. Photo: AFP

Commuters flow through Central, in Hong Kong, on March 9. Photo: Dickson Lee

AI K-pop video pulled after anti-drug message backfires for Hong Kong prison service

Internet users say the original video looks more like a drugs promotion campaign. Photo: Facebook/Correctional Services Department

Opinion

Hong Kong Opinion

News

World

Hong Kong

Politics

Society

Law and Crime

Education

If the authorities can’t use the technology appropriately for one video, one wonders how they can address other concerns posed by artificial intelligence


If the authorities can’t use the technology appropriately for one video, one wonders how they can address other concerns posed by artificial intelligence.


China

Artificial intelligence (AI)

South Korea

AI: Industry Trends

Hong Kong society

Internet

Drugs

Correctional Services Department

AI: Policy

Social media

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Anti-drug video fiasco not a vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s AI goals

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}If the authorities can’t use the technology appropriately for one video, one wonders how they can address other concerns posed by artificial intelligence

If the authorities can’t use the technology appropriately for one video, one wonders how they can address other concerns posed by artificial intelligence