Tech Tonic | AI has wedged itself into elections, and there's nothing ...
In March, Google confirmed that the Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot will not answer questions about elections in many countries this year. This restriction applied to India ahead of the general elections and remains in place for other countries heading to the polls in the remaining months of 2024, including the US.
Even before the turn of this year, the looming threat of AI's impact on global elections was evident. With generative AI tools advancing rapidly, the dangers of AI interference in political processes have become a harsh reality rather than just a threat.
AI Interference Examples
There have been worrying instances of AI interference in elections already. These include AI-generated robocalls in the voice of US President Joe Biden, deepfakes influencing elections in Slovakia, and false allegations spread through deepfake technology.
Generative AI tools now have the capability to produce movie-quality videos and images that are indistinguishable from real ones. However, this technological advancement also raises concerns about the electorate's ability to identify and address the AI-driven manipulations in elections.
Spread of Misinformation
The Microsoft Threat Analysis Centre (MTAC) has identified threat actors from Russia, Iran, and China involved in spreading disinformation through both traditional and social media platforms. These actors have leveraged malicious generative AI to create misleading content for election influence campaigns.
While major tech companies have implemented transparency measures to distinguish generated content from real ones, many other generative AI tools lack such policies, leaving room for misinformation to spread.
Global Election Influence
Countries like Russia, China, and Iran have been actively using generative AI tools to influence global elections. Russia aims to spread misinformation about the war in Ukraine, China seeks to exploit social and political divides, and Iran focuses on interfering with cyber networks.
The spread of generative AI content and deepfakes poses significant challenges to the democratic process worldwide.
The Concern of Eagle AI
In the US, Eagle AI, a controversial tech tool, has raised concerns about its lack of transparency and potential misuse. Created in response to alleged voter fraud claims, Eagle AI's opaque nature and questionable methodology pose risks to democratic processes.
Despite claims of identifying ineligible voters, there are concerns that genuine voters may be disenfranchised due to inadequate verification processes. The impact of tools like Eagle AI on elections remains uncertain, raising questions about the extent of AI's influence on democratic systems globally.
