AI in the super election year of 2024

The increasing spread of generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT presents democracies with new challenges and opportunities. This is because democracies need public discourse, which in turn requires trust and reliability. False or inaccurate, but at the same time convincing information in social media is increasing with the emergence of generative AI – whose potential impact on democracies has therefore become an important topic, especially in the super election year 2024. Even if its actual influence on the outcome of elections has not yet been proven, it is important to prevent AI from influencing political processes and opinion-forming. The role that generative AI will play as an indispensable technology in our everyday lives in political processes to safeguard the integrity of elections and strengthen trust in democracy ultimately depends on how we as a democratic society deal with it and how we use and demand it. The paper uses concrete and potential examples to shed light on the growing importance of generative AI for elections and democracies.