More than three-quarters of Americans are apprehensive about the potential misuse of artificial intelligence affecting the 2024 presidential election, according to a new survey.
The study, titled “AI & Politics ’24,” was spearheaded by Lee Rainie and Jason Husser at Elon University in North Carolina. It found that 78% of respondents believe it’s likely AI will be abused to influence the election outcome between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, The Center Square reported.
Additionally, 39% think AI will have a detrimental impact on the election process, while only 5% believe it will be beneficial.
“Voters think this election will unfold in an extraordinarily challenging news and information environment,” said Mr. Rainie, director of Elon’s Imagining the Digital Future Center. “They anticipate that new kinds of misinformation, faked material and voter-manipulation tactics are being enabled by AI. What’s worse, many aren’t sure they can sort through the garbage they know will be polluting campaign-related content.”
Among other notable findings, 46% of respondents believe that candidates who maliciously alter or fake photos, videos or audio should be barred from holding office. Furthermore, 69% expressed a lack of confidence in their ability to identify fake photos.
The survey also revealed that 23% of participants have used large language models or chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. Opinions on whether these tools are biased were mixed, with most Democrats, Republicans and independents indicating uncertainty.
Regarding confidence in the voting process for the November election, 60% of respondents are “very” or “somewhat” confident that votes will be accurately cast and counted. This confidence is divided along party lines, with 83% of Democrats expressing confidence compared with 60% of Republicans who are not confident.
The survey polled 1,020 adults ages 18 and older across the U.S. Sampling took place from April 19-21, with the results released Wednesday. The survey has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.2% and a 95% confidence level.
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