US deputy attorney general warns about the potential of AI to disrupt elections

Lisa Monaco, US deputy attorney general, warned about the potential of AI to disrupt upcoming elections. She described AI as ‘the ultimate double-edged sword’, explaining it can offer significant benefits to society but could also be used by malicious actors to sow chaos. In particular, she anticipated the upcoming US election in November could be disrupted by AI-powered misinformation such as deepfakes and AI-generated fake calls or robocalls. The US Deputy Attorney General said the US government is working alongside tech companies and other nations, including the UK, to combat the threat posed by AI. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is already working on regulations to put some guardrails around using these technologies with malicious ends. Just last week, the FCC made robocalls during elections illegal after thousands of voters in New Hampshire received a phone call claiming to be from US President Joe Biden urging them not to vote in January’s primary election.

Why does it matter?

This year, more than two billion people are eligible to participate in elections worldwide, including in the US, UK and India. There are growing concerns that AI could have a fundamental impact on democracy. Malicious uses of AI around elections could result in misinformed citizens, a growth in distrust of the sources of information, confusion regarding citizens’ right to vote, and even incitement to violence.