Fears about AI’s harmful influence on the 2024 US Elections were overstated and there’s no clear evidence that AI posed a real threat. But that hasn’t stopped lawmakers at the federal and state levels from pushing forward with overly broad legislation restricting AI use in political campaigns.
We’re all familiar with the potential threats at this point: AI-generated photos that show a candidate doing something fabricated, deepfake videos that create civil unrest in the days before an election, or even cloned voices that put words in a candidate’s mouth.
And while these concerns failed to materialize in any significant way during the 2024 election cycle, legislation designed to prevent these imagined harms will have very real impacts on how emerging AI technologies can or cannot be adopted by campaigners.
As AI features become more widely incorporated into software products, it’s easy to imagine a poorly drafted law prohibiting a candidate from using Microsoft Word to write a speech or stopping a designer from using Adobe Photoshop to create a campaign poster. These are the seemingly innocuous [thank you AI for spellcheck] uses of AI that most reasonable people would agree are acceptable.
Unfortunately, the focus on worst case scenarios overshadows more forward looking applications of AI that should be protected. It’s easier to identify the most frightening possibilities than to imagine the positive ways AI can be used.
Translation
AI has effectively eliminated language and literacy barriers around the world. Today, Campaign messages can be effortlessly translated into any language with just a few taps. But did you know that with the same technology used to create deepfakes, a voter can hear directly from a candidate in his or her own language using the candidate’s actual voice?
Politicians in India, a country with dozens of languages, have pioneered this technology. Prime Minister Modi’s speeches and videos have been translated with AI as early as 2023. As the United States becomes more multicultural and the same AI technology reduces the need for individuals to learn other languages, translating campaign messages will be essential for engaging voters.
Visualization
The scale of the most pressing public policy challenges facing our country make them difficult to wrap our heads around. Whether it's grasping the national debt or envisioning new infrastructure projects, AI can help voters visualize and comprehend complex topics.
If we want to address big problems, we need voters to be educated on the possibilities and AI offers a new way to communicate.
Leveling The Playing Field
Whether it’s an underdog candidate or under-represented community, AI can give access to powerful capabilities for a fraction of the cost previously associated with tasks like creating TV ads or targeting voters. Restricting AI use cases in political campaigns will unintentionally preserve an advantage for those with means to hire human talent.
Conclusion
Lawmakers seeking to regulate political use of artificial intelligence risk unforeseen unintended consequences that could take years to correct and create an unpredictable environment for political campaigners. With just a little dose of imagination we can envision positive uses of AI that would be prohibited by overly broad legislation. Ensuring the responsible adoption of AI in politics is crucial—and so is protecting innovation from overly broad restrictions.
