The use of artificial intelligence in politics has skyrocketed in recent years with no end in sight. That begs the question: how much of an impact can AI have on our elections?
The most recent example was in February when AI was used to impersonate President Biden. Voters received a phone call that sounded just like the President telling them not to vote in the New Hampshire Primary. Experts say this is just part of what AI can do.
Political analyst Dr. Mark Springer said AI is like any other tool. He said how you use it can be for good or bad.
“A lot of campaigns can use it as a function to understand kind of a narrative that might work with different people as long as the algorithms are there and everything that you enter into that gives you the output that you need,” said Dr. Mark Springer, an associate professor of political science at the University of Mary.
Dr. Mark Hagerott is the Chancellor for North Dakota University System and has been studying AI for many years. He said he was a historian of technology and ran low-level artificial specialized intelligence in the Navy. Hagerott said it is very easy for someone to learn and operate the technology.
“That’s probably one of the big breakthroughs, you don’t have to have a formal computer language to work with it, at least at the basic level,” said Dr. Hagerott.
Although AI can have positive uses in politics, there can be many negative impacts as well. Springer points to other democracies, like Turkey, where it has changed election outcomes.
“It had a huge impact on their election because it’s very pervasive. On top of it, when we look at generational effects, the current generation, the new generation coming into it gets most of their information through social media, so that’s where it really filters up and gets spread,” said Springer.
Hagerott said it’s very hard for the average person to detect whether a political ad or something else is AI-generated.
“They wouldn’t have the tools because all they have is the stuff that might give them that. That’s where it is incumbent on these big companies and the government to do that actually,” said Hagerott.
Although AI has been used in national political races, Springer said it has become easily accessible, so you’ll soon start seeing it in state and local races.
“I would like to think that North Dakota is immune from that, but I’m not naive enough to say that. Even if it’s not the campaign central that’s doing it, you can have an outside group doing it and have that push people away from voting,” said Springer.
Both Springer and Hagerott said this technology is not going away and will in fact keep advancing well into the future. Right now, they said the best advice is to consider where the message originates.
President Biden issued an executive order last October where it established new standards for AI safety and security among other areas. The order was to ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of artificial intelligence.