If you’re worried about your ability to distinguish AI-generated content from that generated by humans, you are not alone.
Since mid-2023, experts have detected the presence of generative AI in nearly every national election. And while we still have not seen significant or widespread use of AI in campaigns, experts warn that its potential to influence election outcomes is increasing.
Democracy Reporting International (DRI) has been monitoring the risks of AI to elections for years. We have warned about issues such as the misuse of large language models by malicious actors, chatbots spreading inaccurate election information, and the dangers of visual generative AI like Stable Diffusion and DALL-E
In our latest report with the Kofi Annan Foundation titled “The GenAI Factor at the Ballot Box – A review of Generative AI use in the 2024 European Parliament Elections”, we dive into the use of AI-generated content in the 2024 European elections.
Here’s a quick overview of what we found.
- Far-right political parties in France, Germany, and Italy were among the most prolific users of AI, largely by using it to create campaign materials promoting nationalist and anti-Islamic views. Much of this content went unlabeled despite the Digital Services Act (DSA) requiring platforms to label AI-generated content.
- The AI Act introduces additional safeguards for AI systems to prevent creating illegal or harmful synthetic content.
- Studies reveal that citizens have low confidence in their ability to identify AI-generated content, underscoring the need for more media literacy initiatives. Those can often be more effective than fact-checking or debunking.
- Trust in media, democratic institutions, and other societal actors is crucial for building resilience against being misled by generative AI.
Delve deeper into our findings and access our recommendations regarding the impact of AI on elections. This report also offers a detailed explanation of the use of generative AI during the 2024 European elections, one of the first major votes taking place under new regulations like the DSA and a dedicated code of conduct.