Press Release - IPIE Report Shows Widespread Use of GenAI Incidents in 2024 National Elections Globally

May 27, 2025 - Zürich, Switzerland - There is substantial global evidence that Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies are widely being adopted for campaigning during elections, according to a new assessment by the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE).

The IPIE’s new Technical Paper, The Role of Generative AI Use in 2024 Elections Worldwide: Searching for Solutions, is based on the first open-access database of GenAI election incidents. Built from rigorous analysis of global media and vetted by a scientific panel, the findings offer the most authoritative account to date of how synthetic content is reshaping the practice of elections. It is based on the IPIE’s capturing all reported political uses of GenAI across all 50 countries holding competitive elections in 2024, from deepfakes to precision voter targeting, including coordinated campaigns and foreign interference.

The incident database records which actors used GenAI and how, and evaluates the role of GenAI in campaign communications, public opinion formation, and election turnout.

Key findings:

1. Fully four-fifths (80%) of the countries holding elections in 2024 had GenAI incidents.
2. The vast majority (90%) of incidents involved content creation, such as audio messages, images, videos, and social media posts.
3. Almost half of the incidents have no known source (46%), a quarter were produced by political candidates and parties (25%), a fifth were produced by foreign actors (20%), and the remainder came from other sources (9%).
4. More than two-thirds (69%) of the incidents were cataloged as having a harmful role in the election.

The IPIE’s work on this topic fills the current gap in global insights on the impact of GenAI in political content proliferation and provides data-driven analysis to inform policy recommendations that strengthen election administration in democracies.

Dr. Inga Trauthig, the Consulting Scientist who led the analysis, said:

Generative AI presents unique challenges to democratic systems around the world, often amplifying existing problems and making it harder for voters to distinguish accurate information. In 2024, the potential benefits of these technologies were largely eclipsed by their harmful misuse. It’s more important than ever to understand these risks and to support efforts that promote the responsible use of AI in democratic contexts.

The IPIE’s recent assessment shows that 80% of the countries that held elections in 2024 had GenAI incidents. This demonstrates the widespread use and availability of GenAI technology as well as the political will to rely on it across the world. There is a wide range of expert views on the use of GenAI in political contexts, including its potential to impact voters’ behavior on a scale and interfere with election integrity. The IPIE’s assessment shows that more than two-thirds of reported GenAI incidents (69%) were portrayed as having a harmful role in the election. It remains difficult to measure the specific impact of GenAI—or any technology—on particular elections. But the use of GenAI for electioneering is no longer speculative or theoretical, it is observable and global.

Professor Sebastian Valenzuela, Chief Science Officer of the IPIE, said:

This technical paper makes it clear: GenAI is no longer a future threat, it’s a present force. Though its use by political parties and candidates was sometimes aimed to inform and engage, the widespread misuse highlights how rapidly innovation can outpace our ability to monitor and mitigate electoral manipulation.

This technical paper is intended for use by national and regional government agencies and bodies to ground future policies in evidence-based assessments and help identify priorities and potential ways forward.

ENDS

Further details about the IPIE, and full details on the report methodology, can be found at www.IPIE.info.

For media inquiries, interviews, or more information, please contact Press@IPIE.info.

About the IPIE

The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) is an independent and global science organization providing scientific knowledge about the health of the world's information environment. Based in Switzerland, the IPIE offers policymakers, industry, and civil society actionable scientific assessments about threats to the information environment, including AI bias, algorithmic manipulation, and disinformation. The IPIE is the only scientific body systematically organizing, evaluating, and elevating research with the broad aim of improving the global information environment. Hundreds of researchers worldwide contribute to the IPIE's reports.