In 2023, AI dominated headlines and became a new way for billions of people to write, create images, and search for information. AI has also emerged as a technology that will be instrumentalized to influence elections. The AI industry is now controlled by a select few corporations, the power is concentrated. On the other hand, legislators struggle to regulate new AI models, and the political impact of AI is underrepresented in the public discourse.
Against this background, it is particularly urgent to understand the political power of AI in a year when more than half the world’s population will be voting. Political cultures at different stages of vulnerability and polarization – from India and South Africa to the EU and the US – are already experiencing the impact of AI. It is likely that AI information manipulation will also play a key role in the election campaigns and the results.
This event will address how technology is being instrumentalized for political gains, how it can endanger democratic institutions, and how the challenges in question are interrelated. What potential do current efforts to regulate AI have for combating disinformation online? How are election campaigns around the world instrumentalizing technology to influence public opinion?
The debate will be followed by a reception with canapés and drinks.
Speakers:
- Kate Crawford, Research Professor, USC Annenberg; Senior Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Lab New York; and Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow, Robert Bosch Academy
- Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament, The Greens/ EFA, Member Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age
- Jeanette Hofmann, Professor at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies, FU Berlin, Head of Research Group “Politics of Digitalization”
