The Influences of AI and Misinformation on the African Electoral Landscape
The Civic Tech Innovation Network in partnership with GoVote, an initiative by Co-Creation Hub (CC Hub), introduces a series of workshops and masterclasses, which serves as a platform for the Regional Ambassadors Programme members to collaborate, educate and share the work that they do within the civic tech space.
In this masterclass, Oluwaseun ADEPOJU, CC- Hub’s managing partner, explored the topic of elections and AI in the African context, focusing on the challenges and opportunities, its different domains, highlighting its capabilities and limitations.
We also delved into AI governance in Africa, including the African Union’s AI strategy and national AI policies. The conversation then shifts to the African electoral landscape, discussing challenges such as electoral fraud, voter intimidation, logistical issues, corruption, and digital misinformation.
We explored how AI contributes to digital misinformation through deepfakes and fake news bots. The conversation highlighted the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on misinformation in African elections and discussed various ways in which AI is used to spread disinformation, including the use of AI-generated accounts, micro-targeting, false information, sentiment manipulation, and synthetic tests.
The masterclass also highlighted how AI can be used to address misinformation, such as through fact-checking automation, social media monitoring, image and video verification, and network analysis. The ethical implications of using AI to combat misinformation are discussed, including privacy concerns, biases and fairness, transparency and accountability, freedom of expression, trust and legitimacy, and legal and regulatory issues. The importance of collaboration and involving diverse stakeholders in AI governance is emphasized, as well as the need to enhance digital literacy and address the digital divide in rural areas.
Takeaways
- AI is a tool for automation and is data-driven, capable of learning and widely applicable, but it is not sentient, perfect, a replacement for human creativity, ethically neutral, or self-sufficient.
- AI governance in Africa includes initiatives by the African Union, national AI strategies, and data protection laws.
- Challenges in the African electoral landscape includes electoral fraud, voter intimidation, logistical issues, corruption, and digital misinformation.
- AI contributes to digital misinformation through deepfakes and fake news bots, which can mislead voters and damage reputations. AI is used to spread disinformation in African elections through AI-generated accounts, micro-targeting, false information, sentiment manipulation, and synthetic tests.
- AI can be used to address misinformation through fact-checking automation, social media monitoring, image and video verification, and network analysis.
- Ethical considerations in using AI to combat misinformation include privacy concerns, biases and fairness, transparency and accountability, freedom of expression, trust and legitimacy, and legal and regulatory issues.
- Collaboration and involving diverse stakeholders in AI governance is crucial for effective and ethical use of AI in combating misinformation.
- Enhancing digital literacy and addressing the digital divide are important for ensuring equal access to AI and its benefits in rural areas.
To watch the full masterclass, head over to our YouTube channel here.
