How AI Could Play A Role in Future Elections

A new report suggests that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) could play a crucial role in the coming 2024 election and future elections, after technology already had a part in the 2015 and 2020 races.

According to Fox News, the increasing use of generative AI, which creates images, videos, and audio that appear to be real, could spread disinformation and sway certain voters based on falsehoods. For example, chatbots and algorithms could easily be created to spread false information to voters and turn them against certain candidates.

Furthermore, while some campaigns are using AI to filter out and remove ineligible voters from registries, and to verify signatures, it could also backfire and either intentionally or unintentionally remove eligible voters from the rolls too.

Meanwhile, tech companies are broadly ignoring the issue of election integrity ahead of 2024, since most AI companies do not have the resources needed to conduct such broad oversight of their own technology in order to avoid such abuse. As a result, less human oversight of AI-generated content and how the AI-generated content is used could lead to wider chaos and confusion.

The rise of AI has also further fueled concerns about a similar issue that has existed in previous elections: Foreign interference. AI technology would make it even easier for hostile foreign nations such as China and Iran to interfere in the campaign season and attempt to sway public opinion in one direction or the other.

Anticipating the threat of out-of-control AI, some companies and several states have begun implementing countermeasures. Facebook, for example, has vowed to put labels on all images and ads that were generated with AI. At the same time, states such as California, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington have passed laws cracking down on the use of AI for political purposes.