Reality cheque: we taught AI to spot the most used props this election. Here’s what it found

Hi-vis workwear and cute dogs have come to dominate politicians' 2022 Australian federal election campaign photos, but giant cheques are out of fashion

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The novelty cheque has long been a mainstay of the political photo op" but a Guardian Australia analysis of photos posted during the 2022 and 2019 election campaigns suggests giant cheques are on the way out, while hi-vis workwear and photos of dogs are on the rise.

During our work building the automated systems behind the pork-o-meter, which tracks election campaign pork barrelling as it occurs, the Guardian's data team found ourselves asking an important question. Could we teach a robot to spot photos of novelty cheques?