🚀 Launching a New Weekly Series: Navigating the AI Impact on Elections in 2024 🚀
As we step into 2024, a year brimming with critical elections across the globe, from Taiwan to the United States, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in shaping the democratic process has never been more significant. Every Friday, I’ll be delving into the multifaceted ways AI is influencing elections—unveiling both the groundbreaking opportunities and the profound challenges it presents.
The World Economic Forum, which took place in Davos last month, identified disinformation and propaganda, referred to as “foreign information manipulations and interference” (FIMI), as the second most significant risk facing the world this year.
This week, we kickstart our journey by exploring how AI is reshaping campaign strategies, voter engagement, and the very fabric of electoral integrity.
From India’s ruling party using its Saral app to strategize ahead of the election, to EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell’s warning on Tuesday that the elections across the globe this year will be a “prime target” for countries looking to spread disinformation and undermine democracy, such as Russia.
On Thursday the head of the American State Department’s office for disinformation said that the United States believes Russia will conduct “information operations” aimed at turning opinion in Europe against Ukraine as countries across the continent go to the polls this year.
And this all is not new according to the Oxford Internet Institute recalling that by 2020, social media disinformation campaigns had already operated in more than 80 countries.
According to an EU report, over 750 disinformation campaigns were analyzed from December 2022 to November of the previous year. These campaigns strategically disseminated false narratives and targeted legitimate sources with harassment, aiming to undermine confidence in public institutions and foster animosity towards various nations and groups of people.
As we have already seen in many elections before 2024, AI has always offered a solution to the oldest tricks in the book to acquire power:
- Exposing a common adversary that unites people in opposition,
- Tailoring messages to resonate deeply beyond one’s immediate circle,
- Spreading fears and dystopian narratives to mobilize vast groups while positioning oneself as their savior, and
- Communicating with clarity and decisiveness to draw unmistakable distinctions—all while ambitiously aiming for the pinnacle of political achievement, the presidency.
We all need safeguards against these tactics, we need to put guardrails in place and make sure all involved are held responsible: technology companies, governments, media, political parties, countries and us individuals.
Next week we will be delving into the ways to battle this so stay tuned as we explore these developments and more. Together, we’ll uncover the potential of AI to strengthen democratic processes and the vital measures needed to mitigate its risks. Your insights and discussions are welcomed as we navigate this complex terrain together.