Voter Turnout Manipulation Using AI
Now that the 2024 election has concluded, we can turn to the future. What role might AI have in the 2026 midterms or the 2028 presidential race? In the following demo, we explore one possibility: that AI is used to manipulate voter turnout on election day.
For example, AI can easily generate personalized tweets that trick people into staying home. In the first demo, we show how AI can take a false report of violence at a polling place, and tailor it to any location. Try out the demo here:
Choose a fake scenario and a target city to create a tweet discouraging voter turnout.
If someone saw any of these fake tweets on Twitter / X or other social media, they could get tricked into not showing up on election day. For example, if they saw that the election results had already been decided, they might conclude that their vote won't make a difference, and decide to stay home.
Why is AI needed here? Couldn't people already write tweets like this, and send them out on election day? The key difference is that AI enables those people to operate on a much larger scale, reaching more voters in more cities. Previously, writing this tweet might have taken 10 minutes of googling and wordsmithing. With AI it can be done in a fraction of a second and cost under 1 cent.
AI in the 2024 Election
The 2024 election saw early uses of AI for manipulating voters. While these instances probably didn't have much effect on the outcome, they offered a preview of concerning tactics that will shape future elections. Here's what we saw in 2024:
Foreign interference — OpenAI released multiple reports revealing that Iran had used ChatGPT to generate myriad articles and social media comments targeting American voters.
Deepfake photos — See this webpage curated by Prof. Hany Farid of UC Berkeley, which highlights significant AI-generated photos that surfaced during the election.
Biden robocall — A fake robocall that used AI to mimic President Biden's voice was sent to 25,000 voters in New Hampshire, urging them not to vote.
AI-generated voice clone of President Biden
2026 and Beyond
The tweets you generated show yet another avenue for election manipulation. In our polarized climate, voters are loath to change their minds about who they're voting for. However, they can be tricked into not showing up on election day.
Our society doesn't have much of an immune system for protecting against these kinds of threats. For every scenario listed above, the AI technology that made it possible came out in just the last few years — it's brand new. We're only beginning to understand how AI might degrade democratic processes, and we're learning these lessons in real-time.
Watch CivAI present this demo on Scripps News
CivAI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to give people a deep understanding of AI and its implications through concrete demonstrations of the technology. We provide briefings to decision makers and civil society groups, as well as educational resources for the general public.
Our work brings a new kind of evidence to the discourse — simple, intuitive, and incontrovertible because users can interact with it firsthand.
