Vantaa incites residents to vote with AI-generated images

The city would like to see more of its inhabitants participate in the upcoming Finnish parliamentary elections, so it’s resorted to some contemporary creativity

Finnish people will be heading to the ballot boxes on 2 April to decide on the composition of their next parliament. One local government, that of the City of Vantaa, however, noticed that during the last elections the turnout there was quite low, so the authorities have decided to inspire more interest in citizens’ political activity by using humour and artificial intelligence (AI).

More specifically, the municipality is unrolling a communication campaign to urge people to vote by using AI-generated images of strange and outlandish people. For example, a farmer with bovine ears (as seen in the main photo).

“The purpose of our campaign is to make people stop and look at our message again. It is generally believed that after a quick glance, people go back to the picture, thinking “wait a minute, what did I actually just see,” explains Kaisu Tolvanen, Vantaa communication and marketing manager.

As for the humour, that one is contained in the message of the campaign. It doesn’t urge you to vote for a specific party or a politician, but simply to vote. AI has been a topic of discussion for a long time, even arousing suspicion. However, Vantta officials think that AI is not about to replace real people – there is a place for real people, and especially so in Parliament.

Who do you want to be in charge of your affairs?

Vantaa authorities simply want to urge people to question their own choices by using a topic that has been very current since the start of this year – the application of AI to real life. The idea behind the AI-drawn characters is that they would certainly have a lot to offer but at the end of the day real people have to vote for real politicians to enact real reforms.

By voting, you can influence who or which political party will promote issues important to you in the parliament. Advance voting in Finland will take place on 22-28 March and election day is set for 2 April.

The images have been created by AI with the assistance of photographer and digital artist Antti Karppinen.