Strategies for Utilizing Artificial Intelligence in Political Advertising Campaigns
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a crucial tool in political advertising, with its capabilities in content creation, microtargeting, and personalized propaganda revolutionizing the way political messages are delivered. This transformation, while promising in terms of precision and reach, raises significant concerns about the impact on democracy.
One of the key ways AI is utilized is through microtargeting and personalized propaganda. By analysing individuals' psychological profiles and online behaviour, AI can deliver customized political ads that have been shown to significantly increase engagement (up to 10 times higher click-through rates). However, this level of personalization also makes propaganda more manipulative, particularly when used to spread false or extremist content. This raises ethical questions about transparency and the need for regulations or restrictions on targeted political ads to protect democratic discourse.
Another area where AI makes a significant impact is AI content creation. AI generates persuasive political content, including deepfakes, fake endorsements by celebrities, and AI-generated voices or avatars impersonating political figures. This content can be highly localized and tailored to exploit societal biases, potentially exacerbating the spread of misinformation during elections.
Super PACs, political actors, and interest groups are also increasingly employing AI-friendly operations to back candidates favourable to AI innovation policies. These operations leverage AI for strategic digital advertising to sway elections, often reflecting partisan alignments and increasing the influence of technology and AI-promoting entities in politics.
The impact on democracy is profound. AI's ability to hyper-personalize political messages could potentially manipulate individuals' opinions before elections, amplifying extremist views or inciting divisiveness. This personalization could erode independent, informed decision-making, which is fundamental to democratic freedom of thought.
The massive volume of realistic but false AI-generated content also pollutes the information ecosystem, making it harder for voters to discern truth from falsehood. This undermines trust in political processes and institutions. Furthermore, the opacity of AI-generated political ads and messages challenges voter awareness and accountability, creating blind spots that threaten democratic accountability.
In response, experts recommend policy measures such as transparency requirements for political ad targeting, audits of ad buys to detect manipulative patterns, digital literacy programs to educate voters about AI-driven misinformation, and possibly banning microtargeted political propaganda to safeguard democratic values.
Common data sources for AI political ad tools include voter databases, social media activity, website behaviour, location data, polling data, and third-party consumer profiles. AI-driven messaging bots are also increasingly used in encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Messenger for personalized outreach and engagement.
As we navigate this new era of political advertising, it is crucial to strike a balance between leveraging AI's potential to reach and engage voters while ensuring transparency, accountability, and the preservation of democratic values.
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References:
[1] CNN, (2020). How AI is changing political campaigns. [online] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/tech/ai-politics/
[2] The Guardian, (2018). How AI is being used to spread disinformation and manipulate elections. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/19/how-ai-is-being-used-to-spread-disinformation-and-manipulate-elections
[3] Wired, (2020). The Super PACs behind the 2020 election are getting a tech makeover. [online] Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/the-super-pacs-behind-the-2020-election-are-getting-a-tech-makeover/
[4] Brookings Institution, (2019). AI and democracy: Opportunities and challenges. [online] Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/research/ai-and-democracy-opportunities-and-challenges/
[5] Harvard Kennedy School, (2019). AI and democracy: The promise and the peril. [online] Available at: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/ai-democracy-promise-peril
- The artificial-intelligence (AI) revolution in political advertising has been driven by its abilities in microtargeting and personalized propaganda, presenting users with customized political ads that significantly boost engagement through high click-through rates.
- AI content creation is another area where AI plays a significant role, generating persuasive political content like deepfakes, fake celebrity endorsements, and AI-generated voices or avatars, potentially escalating the spread of misinformation during elections.
- Super PACs, political actors, and interest groups increasingly utilize AI-friendly operations to support candidates aligned with AI innovation policies, employing AI for strategic digital advertising to impact elections and increase the influence of technology and AI-promoting entities in politics.
- Misinformation, created using AI, can pollute the information ecosystem, posing a threat to voter awareness and accountability, and potentially eroding independent, informed decision-making, which is fundamental to democratic freedom of thought.
- In an effort to address these concerns, experts propose policy measures such as transparency requirements for political ad targeting, digital literacy programs, potential bans on microtargeted political propaganda, and audits of ad buys to safeguard democratic values in this new era of political advertising.
