AI & elections: Are democracies ready?
POLITICO
Event details
Description
This year is a make-or-break year for democracies worldwide. And threats to elections are growing via AI-powered disinformation like political deepfake and social media content algorithms. The EU spearheaded the battle to regulate online content with its Digital Services Act (DSA), stepping up as the West’s digital enforcer. How successful those rules are will be tested in June’s European Parliament election. Other countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, are also holding elections with the specter of AI-generated disinformation that may alter voting outcomes. Much is still unknown about the threat of politically motivated AI disinformation. But 2024 marks a pivotal moment to understand if democracies are ready for the challenge.
Key questions to be addressed include:
- What is the role of AI-generated disinformation in this election year worldwide?
- How are the EU, the U.K. and the U.S. governments overseeing content moderation and artificial intelligence? What lessons can be drawn from this year’s global election cycle?
- Are the current rules — both Europe’s legislation and other countries’ commitments — sufficient to protect the democratic process?
- What AI-generated content has been created? Did it have an impact? If not, why not?
- What is the role of large tech companies in policing their platforms for AI-generated material and its online amplification? Are they doing enough?
This POLITICO event will convene international policymakers, regulators and thought leaders who will take stock of the blockbuster elections year and explore how can AI tilt the scale during democratic processes and lessons learnt for future ones.
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