How artificial intelligence could upend 2024’s many elections

Deepfakes, distrust and democracy: Billions of people will have the chance to vote this year in elections around the world. There will be campaigns in eight of the 10 most populous countries, including India and the Biden/Trump race for the White House in the US. Given the stakes, the chance for AI shenanigans is high. Sam Altman, founder of ChatGPT, has warned “of a new kind of interference that was just not possible before AI.”

It raises two basic questions: How that might work? And, what might it mean? For answers, Katya speaks with leading experts in AI and democracy, each of whom have delivered the prestigious BBC Reith Lectures:

- Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Centre for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley

- Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, Oxford University

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC experts around the world, with Katya Adler. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell The Global Story. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com. You can also message us or leave a voice note on WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480. #TheGlobalStory

This episode was made by Neal Razzell, Tom Kavanaugh and Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty. The technical producer was Matt Hewitt. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.