AI at the Ballot Box
What influence will AI have on future elections?
AI is becoming an election issue in its own right. Opposition to new data centres, anxiety about jobs and arguments over regulation are climbing the political agenda across democracies. But AI is not only a subject of political argument. It is also straining the state itself, with public authorities reporting a surge in AI-drafted submissions, from planning objections and complaints to freedom of information requests.
The integrity of the vote may come under pressure too. Researchers have suggested that swarms of AI accounts have the potential to threaten democracy if they are able to infiltrate communities, pass themselves off as ordinary people, and generate a false impression of public opinion. That false picture can be used to promote favoured candidates and to attack opponents with deepfakes, misinformation and hate speech. For voters, this may make it harder to know whether they can trust what they see, who they are hearing from, and how their choices are being shaped. But whether this fear will become a reality is unclear, with little concrete evidence so far.
Regulators have started to act, but no one yet owns the problem. MPs have called for tighter rules, but AI chatbots remain outside the Online Safety Act. Progress has been slow, and the head of the Electoral Commission has told parliament that countering AI driven disinformation “is [not] anyone’s job at the moment”. With the next General Election due by 2029, but a snap-election possible sooner, that gap needs addressing urgently.
In this rapidly evolving landscape, the 'AI at the Ballot Box' programme at King's seeks to bring clarity to the question of how AI will shape the future of democratic elections, bringing together policymakers and academic experts in AI safety, online harms, and electoral integrity. In doing so, the programme aims to support evidenced based policymaking which considers both the risks posed by AI and the opportunities it offers for the future.
'AI at the Ballot Box' is lead by the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Policy Institute.
Aims
- To convene a series of public events, providing a platform for balanced, evidence informed dialogue between researchers, policymakers, regulators and industry on the topic of AI & Elections.
- To consider how AI is becoming a subject of electoral politics as well as a tool within it, from data centres and energy to foreign interference, voting technology, and pressure on public services.
- To build a clear and current account of the influence AI is having on elections, distinguishing demonstrated harms from speculative ones.
- To facilitate new research on AI and elections, and to translate it into practical guidance for stakeholders.
Principal Investigator
AI+ Senior Research Fellow
Investigators
Professor of Computer Science
Director