How much is AI meddling in elections?

How much will artificial intelligence influence your vote this year? Data scientists are keeping a close eye on how AI and deepfakes impact global elections, where about 2 billion people are eligible to vote this year. “Things such as an erosion of trust in governments and information sources, deepened political polarization, the kind of consolidation of echo chambers,” says Sam Stockwell of the Alan Turing Institute. “All of these things, I think, deepfakes and AI threats are just enhancing.”

Class discussion: Do you think you could you detect a deepfake video, photo, audio recording or message created by artificial intelligence? Could you tell if an artificial intelligence program is controlling what websites you visit or which search results you see? Are the all the “regular” computer programs that control social media, online advertising and search results already guiding what you read and think? Should political ads be required to reveal if content was created by artificial intelligence?