The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in political campaigns raises both exciting opportunities and significant risks.
📋 Exam Question
In 2024, almost half of the world's population will be involved in democratic elections. Very few laws and regulations exist with regard to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in political campaigns and democratic processes.
Read the material below.
Using all the provided material, write a personal response where you reflect on some of the aspects of the use of AI in political campaigns.
Recommended length for this task is approximately 175–300 words.
Text A:
There are currently no [American] rules for campaigns when it comes to using AI-generated content in political materials such as ads.
"All campaigns can use this. So in that sense, who is setting the rules of the road as the campaigns themselves, as they go?" asked Russell Wald, the policy director at Stanford University’s Institute for Human Centered AI [...].
He added that the use of this tech by campaigns could be concerning, not only because it could be used to spread misinformation to the electorate, but also because there are no rules in place to prevent its use.
Text B:
High-tech fakes already have affected elections around the globe, said Larry Norden, senior director of the elections and government program at the Brennan Center for Justice. Just days before Slovakia’s recent elections, AI-generated audio recordings impersonated a liberal candidate discussing plans to raise beer prices and rig the election. Fact-checkers scrambled to identify them as false, but they were shared as real across social media regardless.
Text C:
During the 2019 [Canadian] election, Justin Trudeau used LiberalistAI to target specific voter groups with personalized messages. This resulted in increased engagement and donations and helped the campaign target voters more effectively. The tool analyzed voter demographics, preferences, and behavior data to identify key voting blocs and develop targeted outreach strategies.
All the texts are excerpts adapted for this exam by Udir.
References:
Text A: Harper, A. et al. (2023): AI use in political campaigns raising red flags into 2024 election. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ai-political-campaigns-raising-red-flags-2024-election/story?id=102480464
Text B: Swenson, A. et al (2023): Top AI expert ‘completely terrified’ of 2024 election, shaping up to be ‘tsunami of misinformation’. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2023/12/28/2024-election-tsunami-of-misinformation-deepfakes-ai/
Text C: Khare, Y. (2023): The Role of AI in Political Campaigns: Revolutionizing the Game. Analytics Vidhya. https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2023/04/the-role-of-ai-in-political-campaigns-revolutionizing-the-game/
✏️ Model Answer
The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in political campaigns raises both exciting opportunities and significant risks. As highlighted in the texts, AI tools have revolutionized how political campaigns target voters and generate content. For instance, in Canada’s 2019 election, the LiberalistAI tool helped Justin Trudeau’s campaign personalize messages for specific voter groups, boosting engagement and donations (Text C). This capability to analyze voter demographics and tailor content offers campaigns the potential for highly efficient outreach strategies. …