How far will AI in elections influence the outcome of the process? The potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to disrupt democracies, especially in the context of elections, is a multifaceted issue that warrants scrutiny. Read here to learn more.
2024 will be the first election year to feature the widespread influence of AI before, during and after voters cast their ballots, including in the making and distribution of public messages about candidates as well as electoral processes.
As countries gear up for a series of elections in 2024 and beyond, the integration of AI in various aspects of the electoral process, as well as its misuse, poses both opportunities and challenges for democratic institutions.
Globally, numerous instances of political parties using AI to propagate their agenda (good or bad) have been garnering attention.
AI in elections
The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly in the realm of Generative AI (GAI), indeed marks a pivotal moment in the trajectory of human technological progress.
- The potential transition from GAI to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) an AI capable of understanding, learning, and applying its intelligence across an array of tasks as competently as a human being could fundamentally alter our relationship with technology, influencing every aspect of society, economy, and personal life.
- This capability, if applied to elections, could revolutionize various aspects of the electoral process, from voter engagement and education to fraud detection and the securing of voting systems.
AI tools are being used and misused widely by candidates and political parties around the world.
- In 2024, with over 50% of the world scheduled to vote, the fear is that AI tools could undermine democracy globally.
- Awareness, guidelines for ethical use, and accountability by Big Tech can help leverage AI for the public good.
Advantages of AI in elections
- Enhanced Voter Engagement: AI can improve voter engagement through personalized communication and by providing voters with more accessible and comprehensible information about candidates, policies, and the voting process.
- Improved Electoral Security: AI-driven systems can enhance the security of electoral processes by detecting and neutralizing cyber threats in real-time, safeguarding voter data, and ensuring the integrity of electronic voting systems.
- Efficient Electoral Management: AI can streamline electoral logistics, from voter registration and verification to the efficient tallying of votes, reducing human error and increasing the transparency and credibility of elections.
- Fairness and Accessibility: AGI could potentially ensure greater fairness in elections by monitoring and flagging disinformation, ensuring accessibility for all voters, and even auditing electoral processes for bias or irregularities.
- Analytics: AI-powered predictive analytics can forecast election outcomes by analysing various factors such as polling data, economic indicators, and sentiment analysis from social media.
Challenges Posed by AI
- Misinformation and Disinformation: Perhaps the most significant threat AI poses is through the generation and propagation of false information.
- Deepfakes (highly realistic and convincing fake videos or audio recordings) and AI-driven bots can spread misinformation at an unprecedented scale, influencing voters’ perceptions and potentially swaying election outcomes.
- Data Privacy Concerns: AI systems require vast amounts of data to function optimally. This raises concerns about the privacy of voter information and the potential for misuse of data in targeting or manipulating voters.
- Automated Social Media Manipulation: AI can power bots that mimic human users on social media platforms, amplifying partisan content, inflaming social divisions, and even suppressing voter turnout through targeted campaigns of disinformation.
- Bias and Fairness: AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. There is a risk that these systems may inadvertently (or intentionally) perpetuate biases, leading to unfair targeting of certain demographics or skewing the electoral process in subtle ways.
- Regulatory and Ethical Challenges: The rapid development of AI technologies outpaces the formulation of regulations and ethical frameworks to govern their use in democratic processes. This lag creates vulnerabilities that could be exploited to undermine elections.
Deep fake elections
The concept of “deepfake” technology, which involves using artificial intelligence to create highly realistic and convincing fake videos, audio recordings, or images, poses a significant challenge to the integrity of elections.
- Deepfakes can manipulate voices, facial expressions, and actions of individuals, such as politicians, making them appear to say or do things they never did.
- As this technology becomes more accessible and sophisticated, its potential impact on elections is a growing concern for democracies worldwide.
Potential Impacts of Deepfakes on Elections
- Misinformation and Disinformation: Deepfakes can be used to create false narratives and misinformation that can quickly spread across social media platforms, misleading voters and potentially influencing their opinions and voting decisions.
- Undermining Trust: By casting doubt on the authenticity of legitimate audiovisual content, deepfakes can erode public trust in information sources, including news media, official statements, and even the candidates themselves. This erosion of trust can lead to a more polarized and sceptical electorate.
- Targeting Candidates: Political figures can be targeted with deepfakes to damage their reputation, affect their election campaigns, or undermine their credibility. Such attacks can be difficult to counter, especially when they spread widely and rapidly online.
- Manipulating Public Opinion: Deepfakes can be used to create fake endorsements or statements from public figures, misleading the public about a candidate’s views or positions, or fabricating controversial statements to incite backlash.
- Challenging Election Integrity: In the most extreme scenarios, deepfakes could be used to create false evidence of electoral fraud or misconduct, challenging the results of an election and leading to political instability.
Mitigating Risks
To navigate the challenges presented by AI in democratic processes, particularly elections, it is crucial to develop robust legal and ethical frameworks that govern the use of AI.
- Transparency in AI operations, coupled with strict data protection laws, can help mitigate risks related to privacy and data misuse.
- Investing in the development and deployment of technologies capable of detecting deepfakes is crucial. This includes AI-driven solutions that analyze videos and audio for inconsistencies or signs of manipulation.
- Additionally, public awareness campaigns about misinformation and digital literacy can empower voters to critically evaluate the information they encounter online.
- Media outlets and social media platforms play a crucial role in preventing the spread of deepfakes. Implementing strict policies against deepfakes, including content verification processes and rapid response teams, can help mitigate their impact.
- International cooperation and dialogue among democracies are essential for sharing best practices and developing common standards to prevent the malicious use of AI in elections.
- Technology companies and social media platforms also have a significant role to play in detecting and mitigating AI-driven threats to election integrity.
- One possible solution to AI-fueled misinformation would be guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India through a model code of conduct.
Why in the news?
In a video posted online by the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife read out a message from him one day after he was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a liquor scandal.
- However, it was only one version of Kejriwal’s letter that went viral; there was also an English translation produced by artificial intelligence of the politician’s message sent to prison, as well as a Hindi translation.
- With a series of elections to be held across the world in 2024, the potential of AI to disrupt democracies cannot be dismissed.
- Proponents of AI also think that technology will significantly raise and elevate millions of people’s standards of living. However, it is currently unknown if powerful AI may offer “existential risks” and whether it will erode human values as many doomsayers claim.
In India, as of now, there doesn’t exist a specific law that addresses just AI and deepfake technology and targets the individual who creates it.
In other news, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) anchor named ‘Samata’, meaning equality, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
Conclusion
While AI presents certain risks to democratic processes, with thoughtful regulation, ethical use, and international collaboration, its positive potential can be harnessed to enhance democratic engagement and secure electoral processes against traditional and new threats.
International cooperation might be necessary to establish standards and best practices for the ethical use of AGI in elections, ensuring that technology serves to support democratic values and institutions rather than destabilize them.
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-Article by Swathi Satish
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