During an election, it can seem like political candidates are everywhere, all the time, speaking to every topic you care about. But how do politicians and other influencers seem to know what messages you want to see and hear — and even when and where you want to see them?

The smartphone in the palm of your hand might seem like a crystal ball sometimes… But just like a tricky psychic uses clues about you to tell you what you want to hear, political parties can use your personal data to target you with the messages that are most likely to persuade you.

Today, companies are experimenting with Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to help campaigns make their messaging and targeting even more effective, convincing, and persistent – for the candidates you like as well as those you don’t.

In this Data Detox, we’ll look at how technology, and specifically AI-powered tools are used in and around elections (maybe even without you realizing it). We’ll also share tips to help you recognize the persuasive techniques of AI-powered political campaigns.

Let’s look behind the curtain!

Who has the power to sway?

We’re constantly getting direct and indirect messages, nudges, and hints that can shift our opinions, behaviors, and actions. In fact, influence can be exercised in many ways and through various means – it’s not necessarily a bad thing but it’s important to be aware of.

Tip: Get to know the influencers. While the title of “influencer” commonly refers to social media personalities who have large followings (like on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube), many others have the power to influence.

Influencers can also be public figures like celebrities and newscasters. Their influence can be seen and experienced through their choice of words, clothing, and imagery, as well as which stories they prioritize and give attention to.

Influence happens not only on social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, but also through the display of top results on search websites like Google, recommendation systems promoting the next video or post, and the selection of news headlines in the media. Influential messages can also be shared on chat apps like WhatsApp.

A politician is also one type of ‘influencer’ that can have some major sway – even when they’re running for office. Political campaigns invest large sums of money to reach potential voters, so much so that there is a whole industry to help them identify and target specific groups.

Did you know? There are over 500 documented companies that work in the field of technology-driven political persuasion. This means they sell their services to politicians and political campaigns, claiming that they can help influence your opinions - and your vote.

Companies who work in political persuasion are currently experimenting with AI at scale to see how they can make the traditional influencing methods even cheaper, faster, more convincing, and more automated.

This makes this work even more obscure, less transparent, and harder to regulate. Business is booming, and the financial rewards are massive.

Using AI to catch people’s attention

It may be no surprise to you that the same techniques that are used to sell you products are also used to get your vote. But you might be surprised how many digital methods are being used to do it, since they’re so hard to recognize.

Did you know? By automatically analyzing data of potential voters, groups of personality types can emerge on a massive scale. People are categorized and targeted based on patterns such as common psychological traits, demographics, communication behaviors, interests, apps downloaded, websites visited, purchases made, etc.

Information can be gathered from the terms you put into a search engine like Google or Bing. With tools like ChatGPT, even more advanced and detailed search terms could provide more insights into who you are and what you care about.

Businesses who work in political influence have been developing new techniques to sway voters, raise money and get out the vote – and now with AI, there’s a lot more to optimize.

Tip: Learn about how AI can be used for political persuasion. The influence industry has countless methods of AI-powered persuasion tools that become more effective and numerous over time, reaching millions of people. By exposing yourself to and becoming familiar with a few of the methods, you may be able to better understand how the influence industry does this work on a mass scale.

The methods of political persuasion change and grow as technologies advance. Here are just a few of the methods for you to explore (click or tap on the cards below to read further information):

What do you think about politicians using AI to do their work and reach voters? What kind of information or labels would you want to help you know what’s real and what is the work of AI?

Persu(ai)sive performances

Political candidates or their teams using social media platforms and AI tools in their campaigns is not just a futuristic vision – it is a current practice. Find out about some real-life examples of AI-powered election influence.

Click or tap on the cards below to reveal further information:

Learn more about how AI has been used in politics: (1) “Michigan GOP congressional candidate posts deepfake of MLK Jr. endorsing him”, (2) “Trump posts deepfakes of Swift, Harris and Musk in effort to shore up support”, (3) “Fake Biden robocall linked to Texas-based companies, New Hampshire attorney general announces”, (4) “Imran Khan’s ‘Victory Speech’ From Jail Shows A.I.’s Peril and Promise”, (5) “Dancing, cats and Hunger Games. Indonesia's presidential candidates take social media campaigning to a 'whole new level'”.

These are just a few examples of how AI is shaping political influence around the world. Has your local politician used AI in their campaigns?

Look behind the curtain

As you’ve learned, just because content created by generative AI looks and sounds realistic, that doesn’t mean that it is. If you see something online or in your feed that’s shocking, strange, or especially out of the ordinary, it’s possible that generative AI tools may have been used to create or tamper with it – even if it’s hard to tell with your naked eye.

Tip: Seek verification. Online images, videos, and texts that make you feel intense emotions like fear, disgust, awe, anger, and anxiety are most likely to go viral. This highly emotional content is also an effective way to get clicks and spread misinformation – and AI tools can help boost that virality. Pay attention to your reactions and take these feelings as a hint that you need more time to verify if what you’re seeing or reading is legitimate.

For example, if you see a video of a political candidate doing or saying something that raises your alarm bells, do some extra research to see if it’s authentic or whether it may have already been debunked as AI-generated misinformation.

You can rely on certain global bodies such as the International Fact-Checking Network to find out which sources take extra care with verifying the information they publish. On the Signatories page, search for your country to see which sources made the list. Snopes.com and PolitiFact.com are two solid resources for readers in the United States.

If you found this guide useful, share it with someone you know ahead of the next elections.

Written by Safa Ghnaim in Summer 2024. Thanks to Christy Lange and Louise Hisayasu for their edits, comments, and reviews.

This guide was developed by Tactical Tech in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Brazil.