Project description
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a crucial tool in election campaigns worldwide, enabling both legitimate and deceptive uses. Campaigns across the United States, Asia, and Europe are increasingly leveraging AI-enabled systems to optimise operations, enhance voter outreach, and personalise communications. However, the use of generative AI also raises ethical concerns, with examples of deepfake content and astroturfing highlighting its potential for misuse. While existing research has explored AI applications in marketing, persuasion, and opinion polling, a comprehensive understanding of its role in political campaigns, particularly in Germany, remains underexplored.
This project investigates the adoption and implications of generative AI by German political parties, focusing on its effects on campaign practices, public perceptions, and trust. It builds on prior conceptual and empirical work examining the intersection of AI and democracy and extends research into data-driven campaigning and digital media’s impact on political competition. The study addresses three guiding questions: (1) How do political parties use AI and AI-enabled services? (2) What are public attitudes toward these uses, and how do they influence trust in the electoral process? (3) How do parties establish best practices and build trust in their AI usage?
The research employs a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative interviews with party staffers, campaign consultants, and technology providers, public surveys to assess voter attitudes, experimental studies to determine causal effects of AI applications on public opinion, and case studies of recent German campaigns. Trust is a central theme, analysed across five dimensions: conditions of trust, quality assessments, competencies, professional roles, and normative foundations.
By systematically examining the interplay between politics, AI, and trust, the project will provide a holistic understanding of AI’s impact on campaign dynamics and democratic processes. Its findings will offer actionable insights for policymakers, campaign professionals, and technology developers to ensure the responsible and transparent use of AI in politics. This research contributes to the broader academic discourse on technological innovation in political campaigning and its implications for democracy.
Project team
Prof. Dr. Andreas Jungherr
Professor of Political Science esp. Digital Transformation, University of Bamberg