AI and the Election: More Than 85% of People Are Worried AI Will Be Used To Spread Disinformation

This November, American voters will take to the polls to vote in a presidential election where the options at the top of the ballot look a lot like the last election. While the candidates for the presidency appear to be the same as last time, a lot has changed in the country and the world in the last four years, including some developments that could impact the election.

One of those developments is the rise of artificial intelligence technology. While AI programs allow users to learn and create content in new and exciting ways, they can also be used in nefarious ways, including to sway or influence voters (something that has happened already).

Ahead of a heated campaign season, the team at All About Cookies polled U.S. adults to find out how concerned they are about artificial intelligence and the role it could play in the election.

Key findings

• 79% of people believe that AI-generated advertisements should not be allowed for political campaigns. That includes 82% of Democrats, 77% of Independents, and 76% of Republicans.
• 87% of people are worried that AI will be used to spread disinformation that will influence the 2024 Presidential Election.
• 93% of Democrats are worried about AI spreading disinformation — the highest percentage of any political affiliation.
  • 83% of Independents and 80% of Republicans are worried about the same thing.

How many people are worried about artificial intelligence spreading disinformation

In a political era where “fake news” is already commonplace, artificial intelligence could make it even harder for the average person to know what is real or not online.

The vast majority of people recognize that artificial intelligence might create and spread disinformation about the election — 87% of all people say they are concerned about AI being used for that purpose. While Democrats are the group most unified in their concern (93%), at least 80% of both Independent and Republican voters also say they are worried about artificial intelligence being used to spread election disinformation.

These fears appear to be well-founded. While several large tech companies recently entered an agreement to prevent AI content from being used to deceive voters in elections around the world, researchers recently found that prompts asking AI programs operated by those same companies to create false election-related images were successful over 40% of the time. The researchers also found evidence that false images created by other users may already be in use to spread election disinformation.

Should political campaigns be allowed to use AI to create ads?

Online images and videos aren’t the only way that people are influenced during an election. Candidates and their teams create print, video, and radio ads that encourage people to vote for them (or at least vote against their opponent).

Mudslinging and “gotcha moments” are not uncommon in official campaign ads. These low blows could become even worse if campaigns use AI to create fake images or clips of their opponent to use in defamatory ads.

Once again, most people are worried about such developments. 79% of all people feel that political campaigns should not be allowed to create and broadcast AI-generated ads. That includes between 76% and 82% of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, which shows a high level of agreement on this issue regardless of political affiliation.

Bottom line

Once the election is in full swing, it will be difficult to avoid seeing stories and advertisements about the race for the White House. Some of these will be AI-generated, and some may be clickbait designed to make readers click on malicious websites. Here are some tips for staying safe online this election season:

• Use best practices. Following some basic tips on how to stay safe online will help protect your information and devices, especially on public Wi-Fi.
• See fewer ads on Facebook. Annoying advertisements, including political ads, can clog up a Facebook feed and make it harder for users to see content they’re actually interested in. Blocking Facebook ads is a great way to improve the user experience while avoiding deceptive political ads (AI-made or otherwise).
• Subscribe to a VPN for browsing. Virtual private networks (VPNs) can protect your personal information online. Compare your options and use the best VPN possible for digital security.

Methodology

To collect the data for this article, our team at All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults in February 2024 via Prolific. All respondents were U.S. citizens over the age of 18 and remained anonymous.