Election commission must strengthen its vigil against misuse of artificial intelligence

Across the world, deepfakes have been used to spread misinformation in politics. The ECI must get cracking against anyone seen to use technology to upset India’s democratic processes.

One of the biggest ongoing concerns related to artificial intelligence (AI), which holds the potential to provide a significant boost to global GDP growth, pertains to the capability of the technology to generate deceptive and manipulative content.

This apprehension has been flagged multiple times in the recent past, including through the Bletchley Declaration of November 1, and, also, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit on November 22.

At the Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted the second International Conference on the ‘Use of Technology And Elections Integrity’ held in January 2023, too, participants highlighted the challenge that technology can pose to the integrity of the electoral process.

With the time drawing near for the announcement of dates of the general elections, it may, thus, be fitting if the ECI strengthens its vigilance mechanism to ensure that politicians and/or their supporters intending to use AI-generated deepfakes during the campaigning process are stopped in their tracks.

The ECI exercising greater oversight on the deepfake issue would send out a strong message to political parties and candidates about its zero tolerance for deepfakes. More significantly, such an initiative could ensure that ordinary voters — especially those who are not abreast with the breakneck speed at which AI and machine learning are influencing our lives — including those living in small towns and villages – do not get influenced by fake videos and images while taking a call on whom they should vote for in their respective constituencies.

Nothing better exemplifies the need for the ECI to actively intervene to ensure that deepfakes do not compromise the sanctity of the electoral process than the fact that 968.8 million people can vote in the upcoming general elections, making it the ‘largest electorate in the world’. The total registered voters for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls make up almost 67 per cent of India’s population.

As of now, there is no information in the public domain on the specific steps that the ECI has chalked out to tackle the troublesome issue of sophisticated AI technologies likely being misused by certain people for creating deceptive and manipulative content.

For addressing the issue of deepfakes more effectively, though, the ECI could consider roping in outside experts, including those from academia, with deep understanding of the latest AI technologies. AI experts could assist the ECI in being able to quickly take decisions on the most efficacious safeguards against misuse of AI technologies. They could also prove useful to the Election Commission of India during discussions that the ECI may hold with technology companies on the issue. In this regard, it is an encouraging development that on February 12 generative AI company Open AI held a private roundtable where IT officials and tech scholars shared their views on what more the ECI could do towards combating misinformation and disinformation this election.

Taking stringent action against politicians who resort to the use of deepfakes, moreover, could go a long way in underlining the seriousness with which the ECI views any attempt by candidates to leverage technology the wrong way to boost their chances of winning elections. Political parties and candidates should not get away with mere warnings on using technology to spread misinformation and disinformation.

Free and fair elections have always been a hallmark of India’s democracy. Misinformation and disinformation (which includes deepfakes) pose a threat to the integrity of the electoral process and needs to be addressed with all the force that is necessary befitting a nation aiming to make its electoral system a gold standard for the world.

India’s election commission must not be caught sleeping at the wheel.

(Sumali Moitra is a current affairs commentator. X: @sumalimoitra.)

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)