How AI Puts Elections at Risk — And the Needed Safeguards (Mekela Panditharatne & Noah Giansiracusa, Brennan Center for Justice, 2023):

 

AI advances have prompted an abundance of generalized concerns from the public and policymakers, but the impact of AI on the field of elections has received relatively little in-depth scrutiny given the outsize risk. This piece focuses on disinformation risks in 2024. Forthcoming Brennan Center analyses will examine additional areas of risk, including voter suppression, election security, and the use of AI in administering elections. [...] AI has the potential to dramatically change elections and threaten democracy.

 

A whole-of-society response is needed. Preparing to Fight AI-Backed Voter Suppression (Mekela Panditharatne, Brennan Center for Justice, 2024):

 

Generative AI introduces the possibility of more sophisticated methods of deception, capable of being deployed more cheaply and swiftly on a wider scale. AI’s persuasive potential may increase over time as current technological limitations are quickly surpassed and different forms of AI are coalesced in new ways. Some kinds of AI systems will allow election deniers and other discontents to submit mass private challenges to voters’ registration statuses more expediently — possibly with even less transparency and with a novel patina of faux legitimacy. While it remains unclear how much AI will change the face of vote suppression in the 2024 general election, new developments in AI use and capabilities lend fresh urgency to long-standing efforts to abate attempts to subvert elections. Those developments necessitate strong new policy interventions to minimize the dangers on democracy’s horizon.

 

The impact of generative AI in a global election year (Valerie Wirtschafter, Brookings Institution, 2024):

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[...] instances of manipulated or wholly generated content have surfaced, posing a threat to democratic discourse and electoral integrity. Addressing this challenge requires a multifaceted response. Interventions ranging from legislative measures targeting election-specific deepfakes to voter education initiatives are imperative. Tech companies should also play a central role, including through the implementation of imperfect technical solutions to identify the origins of generated media. While these interventions may not eliminate the challenges posed by generative AI, they represent progress toward managing a complex issue during a critical election year.

 

Election disinformation takes a big leap with AI being used to deceive worldwide (Ali Swenson and Kelvin Chan, AP, 2024):

 

Artificial intelligence is supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, making it easy for anyone with a smartphone and a devious imagination to create fake but convincing– content aimed at fooling voters. It marks a quantum leap from a few years ago, when creating phony photos, videos or audio clips required teams of people with time, technical skill and money. Now, using free and low-cost generative artificial intelligence services from companies like Google and OpenAI, anyone can create high-quality “deepfakes” with just a simple text prompt. [...] “A world in which everything is suspect — and so everyone gets to choose what they believe — is also a world that’s really challenging for a flourishing democracy,” said Lisa Reppell, a researcher at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Arlington, Virginia.