AI not enemy of democracy — Amupitan

THE Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has defended the use of Artificial Intelligence in election management. According to him, the technology is not a threat to democracy, despite its potential misuse by malicious actors. Amupitan said AI could improve electoral administration through efficient voter registration, logistics planning, data analysis and the management of large voter databases. He warned that advances in generative AI had made it easier to create deceptive content capable of undermining public confidence in elections. The INEC chairman, who stated these at The Beyond the Ballot Summit in Abuja yesterday, explained that electoral management bodies worldwide had adopted AI-assisted processes to improve administrative efficiency and strengthen election planning.

The INEC chairman’s remarks came amid preparations for the 2027 general election, with the commission recently announcing plans to integrate AI into Nigeria’s electoral system. He said: “Artificial Intelligence, AI, is not an enemy of democracy. ” He, however, expressed concern over the growing accessibility of generative AI tools which, he said, could be exploited to manipulate voters and spread disinformation during elections. “However, the rabid democratisation of generative AI models has dramatically lowered the barrier to entry for malicious actors, capacities, capabilities that want to require speedy-level intelligence resources such as high voice cloning of public figures, hyper realistic synthesis of election officials making false announcements are now accessible at negligible cost. These tools target specific vulnerabilities with distinct timelines,” Amupitan said. The growing use of AI in electoral processes has heightened concerns about the…