Times of India

AI In Politics: A Blessing Or A Curse

 AI  AND POLITICS!!

Introduction

The world we are living in is revolutionizing every second. With new technologies, we are unwinding new threats and dangers for the same world we are destined to live in. It has been more than a decade since the invention of the internet, and with its development came a new world of undiscovered domains. Initially, the 1960s opened the doors for cyberspace; however, with time, technicians and internet users started unleashing new ways the internet could be used. Developers of internet platforms used it to establish an online means of communication and entertainment for people and profit from it. Yet, the users discovered the other side of the internet and the wrong ways to use social platforms.

Development is a factor natural to humans; we are continuously seeking ways to improve our living situation on this planet. Moreover, in our quest for learning and discovering new things, we tend to forget the ways our developments are harming other creatures in this world. Artificial intelligence has brought forward the idea of how a digital being can aid humans in their work and, in many cases, take over their duties as well. The computer-controlled datasets only require us to set the way they should perform different tasks, and they will take over from there. As the developer of such a program cannot limit any of its functionalities, owing to its already-existing complexity, this provides a loophole for people looking to misuse the program for their own gain.




Role of AI In Politics

As it stands, anything is not good or bad but is dependent on the way it is used. Artificial intelligence can help strategists outline their ideas, plans, and content creation and analyze the effects of the implementation of a specific strategy on society. With proper commands and dataset management, an AI-set robotic system can help perform numerous tasks. It can not only help identify social patterns, do political analysis, news reporting, and manage cyberspace easily, but can also aid a state in crisis management, risk prevention, and security deterrence.

However, the problem is that AI is being used more for wrong measures than for positive ones. It is bringing us to a time that Stephen Hawking warned us about, a time when the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. At the national level, AI is now being used to oppress certain topics while giving rise to others. It has provided a platform to develop gender issues, political crises, and extremism. Correspondingly, states are using AI-generated products to affect election campaigns, target certain cultures, spread disinformation, and enhance false democracy.


Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee (RNC) used AI-generated video to showcase what the US would look like under President Biden in the upcoming years. While it was just a 30-second video that came as a response to Biden‘s re-election campaign, the video was successful in portraying a US with a high number of crimes, open borders for migrants and terrorists, enriched war with China, and an overall collapse of the US economy. Consequently, this led to criticism of Biden and a reduction in his future public power.

In the future, AI can affect election campaigns in the same way, it can spread false information about politicians or dispel a campaign’s agenda, bringing negativity for one and ultimately favoritism for the other. Moreover, it can help spread awareness in a way that targets indecisive citizens to choose one candidate over another. Correspondingly, artificial intelligence can help politicians spread their propaganda more effectively, and with enhanced defamation through deepfakes, it can allow them to gain public support for them.



Conclusion

In a world that is now dependent on the internet for much of its tasks and where users are available more online than offline, AI can dominate thousands of such domains with little to no effort. Henceforth, as social media users and responsible citizens, learning cyber awareness and avoiding the spread of information that might be inherently wrong is our duty. Before affirming any news and spreading it, we need to understand that nothing on the internet can be completely true or false. Thus, there is a need to keep in mind the ground realities and look for confirmation through different intelligence tools.


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