As stakeholders explore the adoption of AI and machine learning in African elections, attention must be paid to the risks and opportunities AI systems pose to electoral integrity, voting rights and information integrity. Efforts must be made to ensure that AI technology is not used to deepen democratic backsliding in the electoral process. Instead, it should enhance electoral integrity.
As Africa navigates it super election year, electoral integrity and information and voting rights will come under pressure due to the zero sum of Africa’s politics. Also, the appropriation of AI-generated disinformation and disinformation to delegitimize electoral institutions and processes and influence voter behavior towards elections. The unruly intrusion of large technology companies and technologists into the electoral process also poses significant threats to electoral confidence. As African electoral commissions begin to take advantage of the undeniable potential of AI to improve efficiency and trust in the electoral process, they must also recognize that AI is not a silver bullet but an enabler of improved electoral processes. The perennial operational challenges and procedural shortcomings that plague African elections could be minimized by adopting artificial intelligence. However, they will not eliminate these challenges if election commissions fail to adequately plan and deploy election officials with integrity.
While discussions of artificial intelligence and elections focus on the general impact of misinformation and disinformation on elections, the adoption of artificial intelligence has not been sufficiently explored in terms of its role specifically in election management. In response to this trend, the African election observation ecosystem is represented by Yaga AfricaAfrican Election Observation Network (AfEONet), Election Observation Group (ACCOUNT), West African Network of Election Observers (WAEON), and the Electoral Support Network of South Africa (ESN-SA), hosted a Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Elections in Africa with the support of Luminate Group, to explore the opportunities and risks of AI-based electoral processes, especially as eligible voters in twenty-four African nations are expected to go to the polls in executive and legislative elections this year. The conference brought together electoral commissions, electoral experts, donors, academics, civil society groups, major technology companies and regional institutions from 22 African countries.
Conference participants reflected on four critical debates about artificial intelligence and African elections. First, the discourse on AI and elections is shaped by binary power relations, with Africa at a disadvantage due to limited ownership of the technological infrastructure to power AI systems. Africans do not own any of the big tech companies. Second, in a continent where the accuracy, reliability and effectiveness of technological systems are validated by electoral results and not the other way around, relying entirely on AI to deepen electoral integrity may not bridge the trust gap. Third, the debate on AI regulation may be premature considering the rapid evolution of AI and its early stages of adoption in most climates. Finally, the economic, political and social costs of adopting artificial intelligence in elections outweigh its benefits.
The percentage of African electoral commissions that are not involved in the development of artificial intelligence for elections exceeds those that use artificial intelligence systems. This non-adoption is due to a multitude of reasons. They include financial restrictions, harmful or misleading AI-generated information that negatively affects voter behavior and potentially results in voter disenfranchisement. Also, political actors can exploit genetic artificial intelligence to impersonate election officials and clone election management procedures.
While the role of AI in African elections is still evolving, a small fraction of African electoral commissions have moved to embrace AI for elections. A recent Yiaga Africa survey of electoral commissions in 22 African countries reveals that artificial intelligence is being developed for voter registration management, automated chatbots for voter engagement, voter authentication and cyber threat detection in South Africa, Eswatini, Madagascar and Nigeria respectively. AI addresses the challenge of human interference and inefficiency in elections by facilitating oversight and rapid decision-making. Advanced analytics and machine learning models detect anomalies and inaccuracies in election data to prevent election manipulation.
The percentage of African electoral commissions that are not involved in the development of artificial intelligence for elections exceeds those that use artificial intelligence systems. This non-adoption is due to a multitude of reasons. They include financial restrictions, harmful or misleading AI-generated information that negatively affects voter behavior and potentially results in voter disenfranchisement. Also, political actors can exploit genetic artificial intelligence to impersonate election officials and clone election management procedures. AI predicting voter behavior based on unrestricted access to voter data undermines privacy rights and could intensify biometric surveillance. Similarly, AI-based authentication of voters’ facial features or fingerprints could introduce errors, and algorithms could lead to bias against certain voters. These concerns discourage the adoption of AI by most African electoral commissions.
The strong socialization of AI, improved access to AI tools, successful use cases of AI-based electoral processes, the affordability of AI systems, and the enabling policy and legal framework for AI can provide motivation for the adoption of artificial intelligence in elections. Most electoral commissions with a history of AI adoption have little or no regulations on accepting AI in elections. It is for this reason that the African Election Observation Ecosystem is establishing an Africa Task Force on AI in Elections to advance the role of AI in elections, advocate for a multi-layered, multi-layered and networked AI regulatory framework and study future implications in AI in the elections.
The world’s first most comprehensive AI regulation recently adopted by the EU and the UN General Assembly resolution on AI provide a model for Africa to develop and adopt its own regulatory framework. Africa needs a regulatory framework to prevent the manipulation of artificial intelligence to undermine electoral integrity, information integrity and democracy. In addition, electoral commissions and election observers will need to update their knowledge base to deepen their understanding of AI and keep up with its pace of development.
As stakeholders explore the adoption of AI and machine learning in African elections, attention must be paid to the risks and opportunities AI systems pose to electoral integrity, voting rights and information integrity. Efforts must be made to ensure that AI technology is not used to deepen democratic backsliding in the electoral process. Instead, it should enhance electoral integrity. In response to the opportunities and risks of AI, electoral authorities, election observers and other stakeholders should adopt a value-based approach to integrating AI into elections to ensure that risks to electoral integrity are mitigated. integrity, voter rights and democracy. This includes upholding the principles of fairness, trustworthiness, security, privacy, transparency, participation in the design, development and regulation of artificial intelligence systems in African elections.
The first most complete in the world Regulation of artificial intelligence recently passed by the EU and the UN General Assembly resolution on artificial intelligence provides a model for Africa to develop and adopt its own regulatory framework. Africa needs a regulatory framework to prevent the manipulation of artificial intelligence to undermine electoral integrity, information integrity and democracy. In addition, electoral commissions and election observers will need to update their knowledge base to deepen their understanding of AI and keep up with its pace of development.
Samson Itodo he is a lover of elections, democracy and public policy. Itodo serves as the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa and Principal Partner of the Electoral Law Center. He is also a member of the board of the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Board of Advisors of International IDEA. Send comments and feedback to sitodo@yiaga.org. He tweets at @DSamsonItodo.
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