Could AI Swing an Election?

With over 50 elections around the world in 2024, how could AI influence the democratic process?

Disinformation has already been supercharged by digital technology - with bot farms, fake news and conspiracy theories running rampant across social media platforms.

But now, AI could potentially make it all the more difficult to sort fact from fiction in political discourse. We've already heard a deepfake of Sadiq Khan claiming to control the city of London, in the style of a cartoon villain - yet for something so false it’s uncomfortably convincing. Social Media platforms already struggled with misinformation, AI images, audio and video could make the situation so much worse.

It’s a big year for democracy, in the next 12 months we’re going to see more than 50 democratic processes unfolding around the world, not least our own general election and the US presidential election, and what Aleks and Kevin are going to find out is 'Can AI swing an election?' And what, if anything, can we do about that?

Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Elizabeth Ann Duffy Researchers: Juliet Conway