CDT Report - Adaptation and Innovation: The Civic Space Response to AI-Infused Elections

About This Project

Summary

AI amplified information integrity challenges during the elections held around the world in 2024. CDT’s Elections & Democracy team published a report examining how civic actors in Mexico, Taiwan, and beyond adapted—tracking deepfakes, using AI for fact-checking, and countering disinformation. CDT’s analysis features perspectives from over a dozen civil society partners and outlines steps for sustaining information resilience through collaboration, responsive policy, and transparency.

Goals & Objectives

The extent of AI’s impact on elections was one of the most salient questions of 2024. We sought to do more than merely identify problems caused by AI; we took a solution-oriented approach, focusing on how civic space actors fought to build a resilient info environment in the face of AI-fueled risks.

Results & Impact

Our work shows that civil society are not only leaders in responding to AI threats to elections, but in using AI to protect democracy. The findings offer a path forward for future work & were featured by leading outlets + experts, & presented in front of a preeminent international cyber conference.