The Role and Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Extremist Fuelled Election Misinformation in Africa

 The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in a new era of technological possibilities, transforming industries and societies worldwide. However, its impact on African democracies reveals a complex interplay between technological advancement and the persistent threats of extremism and voter disenfranchisement. In Africa, where political landscapes are often marked by instability and ethno-tribal/religious divisions, the potential for technology, particularly AI, to be exploited by extremist groups to cause political stability poses a significant risk. These actors can harness AI to deepen societal cleavages, manipulate public opinion, and ultimately undermine the democratic fabric through disenfranchisement and misinformation.   On the global stage, deepfakes and other synthetic media technology have raised concerns about the fragility of democracy and the new realities of true-to-life AI-generated content peddling fake news. Deepfakes not only pass off fake content as real but also create psychological mistrust towards genuine content, which can be problematic for political observers and electorates. They can also enable what some scholars have described as the ‘liar dividend’, in which politicians fuel cognitive dissonance by claiming that real but demeaning content has been digitally manipulated to evade political and legal accountability. Such activities, leveraging AI platforms with disabled ethical safeguards, are particularly troubling given the current absence of sophisticated deep-learning models and the exposure to exploitation by extremist groups in Africa.