A growing number of Americans believe artificial intelligence (AI) will be used negatively during the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign. According to a recent Pew Research Centre survey, 39% of Americans expect AI to be used mostly for bad purposes, while only 5% believe it will be used primarily for good. Meanwhile, 27% say it will be used equally for both good and bad.
As the integration of AI into political campaigns increases, concerns about misleading information have escalated. 57% of U.S. adults – including nearly equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats – are extremely or very concerned that AI will be used to spread false information about candidates during the election.
TECH COMPANIES’ RESPONSIBILITY IN THE 2024 ELECTION
Many Americans also believe that major technology companies – such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Google – have a duty to prevent their platforms from being misused during the election season. In the survey, 77% of U.S. adults said these companies should take responsibility for stopping disinformation on their platforms.
However, despite this broad agreement on responsibility, confidence in tech companies’ ability to achieve this is extremely low. Only 20% of Americans are confident that tech platforms will effectively prevent misuse during the 2024 election.
PARTISAN VIEWS ON TECH COMPANIES’ ROLE
While both political parties agree that tech companies should bear responsibility, there is a notable difference in intensity. 84% of Democrats and 72% of Republicans agree that these companies should work to prevent platform misuse. Interestingly, the share of Republicans who now feel this way has grown since 2020, when only 64% supported such efforts.
DECLINING CONFIDENCE IN TECH COMPANIES
Confidence in technology companies to prevent misuse during elections has steadily declined over the last six years. In 2018, 33% of Americans expressed confidence in tech platforms’ ability to stop disinformation. Today, that figure has dropped to 20%.
- 79% of Americans say they are not confident that tech companies will prevent their platforms from being misused to influence the 2024 election.
- 80% of Republicans and 79% of Democrats share this concern, marking a bipartisan lack of trust in tech giants.
Republicans’ confidence has slightly improved since 2020, when 43% were not at all confident. However, the share of Democrats who are not confident has increased significantly, up by nearly 20 percentage points since 2018.
HOW DIFFERENT GENERATIONS VIEW AI’S IMPACT ON THE ELECTION
Concerns about AI’s influence in the 2024 election cross party lines, with 41% of Republicans and 39% of Democrats believing AI will mostly be used for bad purposes. Despite similar views by party, differences in opinion emerge when looking at age groups.
- 35% of adults under 30 say AI will be used about equally for good and bad, compared to 20% of those 65 and older.
- Older adults are more likely to express uncertainty about AI’s role, with 39% of those 65 and older saying they are not sure how AI will be used during the election.
In terms of concern, 68% of Americans 65 and older are extremely or very concerned about AI’s influence on the election, compared to 48% of adults under 30.
IMPACT OF AI AND TECH COMPANIES ON ELECTION INTEGRITY
As AI becomes a more prominent tool in political campaigns, the potential for its misuse is causing significant concern. With nearly 80% of Americans lacking confidence in tech companies to prevent disinformation, the role of both AI and social media platforms will be heavily scrutinized in the 2024 election.
The continued decline in public trust suggests that the intersection of technology and elections will remain a contentious issue, with voters increasingly wary of AI-driven content and platform misuse. As the presidential race heats up, both parties and tech companies will face mounting pressure to ensure the integrity of election-related information.