The chair of Reform UK in Bracknell has admitted to using AI to create photos of the town for a poster.
Former Conservative councillor Malcolm Tullett, published a poster on the Bracknell Facebook page on June 1 with the title “What Happened to Bracknell”.
The title, in blue, stylised in ‘wild west’ letters is surrounded by nine darkened ‘photographs’ showing a ghetto in which graffiti is juxtaposed with piles of litter, dead fish in a stream dyed electric-blue, blister packs of pills with vials of drugs, a shopping trolley, dead birds, a fast car performing donuts and an expensive-looking black mountain bike and an expensive-looking scooter.
Mr Tullett explained the truthfulness of the images.
He said: “It’s not made up at all. It’s absolutely genuine. 100 per cent.”
Bracknell MP Peter Swallow criticised the images that were shared on social media.
He asked the AI language model Google Gemini which part of Bracknell the photos had been taken in but Gemini replied: “They haven’t been taken from real-world locations in Bracknell or anywhere else.
“They are synthetic images designed to illustrate a political or community campaign.”
Afterwards, Malcolm Tullett admitted making six of the photo-realistic images in the collage using ChatGPT, adding that he had photographed the pills in ‘a’ park which was either Mill Park, South Hill Park or Great Hollands but he didn’t disclose specifically where.
He said: “I do use AI to generate some of them. They’re all genuine examples of things that can happen [in Bracknell].”
He emphasised that he wasn’t “allowed to” take photos in real locations around Bracknell because of copyright law and had previously been in trouble for printing photos of a local chip shop.
Peter Swallow MP said: “Last week, residents joined me to pick litter in Priestwood, and I was able to report a case of fly-tipping we spotted to the council.
“Reform Bracknell would prefer to let AI make up problems for them to pretend to solve.
“They’re more interested in creating fake news and division than in supporting Bracknell Forest residents.”
Mr Tullett replied: “He would say that, wouldn’t he? All he’s after is photo opportunities. He’s a fine one to talk.
“Why is everything going down the tubes? From what I can see at the moment, what I see going on at the Borough Council is abysmal.
“It’s falling apart. We’ll stop all that.”
Mr Tullett said that Reform UK was preparing a manifesto for Bracknell which would be ready ‘in the next couple of months.’
He said that Reform would bring improvements by: “Being honest to ourselves, honest to our residents and doing what we were elected to do.”
He said: “We’ll be responding to what it is our residents want us to do and what it is they pay for.
“We won’t be sitting here doing nothing.”
