In 2024, half the world’s population went to the polls. The election year has coincided with the widespread availability of innovative and powerful artificial intelligence (AI) models. These new AI tools can generate text, images, sound, and video that appear realistic, and they are both easy and inexpensive to use.
From previous election campaigns, it has been well documented that digital tools are used by both domestic and foreign actors seeking to spread disinformation and strategically influence voters. This led to significant interest in how artificial intelligence would affect the 2024 elections.
It is difficult to determine precisely what impact AI has had on elections in 2024. A common conclusion, however, is that it has not been decisive for the election outcomes. For instance, there are no indications that AI significantly influenced the elections in the EU, India, or Taiwan.
According to the Alan Turing Institute, however, AI-generated disinformation likely had a polarising effect on the US election. Opinion polls suggest that false claims influenced people’s perceptions of the candidates and their views on political issues. Rather than swaying voters to change their opinion, AI-generated disinformation helped to reinforce and confirm already established political attitudes.
Although artificial intelligence has not been decisive in the 2024 elections, its potential has been clearly demonstrated, while the tools themselves are rapidly evolving. Several countries have already introduced measures to counteract influence and manipulation.
These include:
- Labelling of artificial intelligence and political advertising (EU)
- Rules for political parties’ use of AI (Norway, Denmark, EU, Switzerland)
- Measures against foreign interference (Taiwan, USA, UK, Sweden, EU
The policy brief is available in Norwegian only:
Kunstig intelligens i supervalgåret 2024
