Generative AI in Election Campaigns and Other Political Communication

Following a global wave of prominent elections in 2024, several experts argued that the fears surrounding generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in elections were overblown and that the evidence so far pointed to limited effectiveness of GenAI-driven efforts in swaying voters. But this early analysis of election data in the new artificial intelligence (AI) era should not justify letting down our guard, for two primary reasons. First, the volume and pervasiveness of synthetic content are likely to increase in the near future. Second, the misuse of GenAI in political communications can affect democratic processes in ways beyond influencing who wins an election.