Artificial Intelligence and Election Integrity in 2024

The following project was produced by a working group from the inaugural Carnegie Ethics Fellows cohort reflecting nearly two years of convenings, collaboration, and research. Each report in this special series examines a critical issue at the intersection of ethics and international affairs. The Carnegie Ethics Fellowship aims to develop the next generation of ethical leaders across business, government, academia, and non-governmental organizations.

Marked by an unprecedented number of elections, 2024 represents a historic milestone in democratic governance for scholars and citizens alike. Approximately 64 countries—representing over 2 billion people—will have elections this year. Among those polities, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico stand out as the largest and most economically prosperous democracies with significant electoral processes—not to mention the European Parliament. And political mobilization of this scale should not be taken for granted: This level of collective electoral participation will not be seen again until 2048.

Although those who support democracy as the best political framework for facilitating economic prosperity and safeguarding basic human rights should be heartened by widespread suffrage, political and economic volatility remain major countervailing concerns. Perhaps the biggest threat to democratic governance is the least understood: Societies still do not know how to sufficiently combat the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by malevolent actors who are deploying this technology to fuel manipulation, misinformation, and disinformation campaigns.

Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit. The views expressed within this project are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Carnegie Council.