Misunderstanding AI’s Democracy Problem
(Originally published by The Digitalist Papers on September 24, 2024)
Artificial intelligence amplifies the abilities of all good and bad actors to achieve the same goals they have always had. That maxim applies to democracy as it does to all other social systems. For foreign intelligence officials whose previous attempts to interfere in another country’s elections were limited by the language abilities of their staff, for example, generative AI lowers the cost of creating targeted disinformation in a native tongue. For a cash-strapped challenger without the resources to create advertisements, other professional campaign materials, a jingle, or a team of “volunteers” to converse with voters online or by phone, AI will allow them to compete against well-funded incumbents.
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