August 22, 2025
Learning Curve: Understanding and Informing How Election Officials Are Approaching AI
Depending on whom you ask, artificial intelligence is either the magic fix for every election problem or the source of a whole new set of headaches. Our newsletter won’t promise miracles or doom, but it will give you a front-row seat to the conversation. Here, we’ll help election officials make sense of both the opportunities and the challenges that AI brings.
Housed in Arizona State University’s Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory (MODL) and partnered with The Elections Group, the ASU AI & Elections Clinic was developed in line with recommendations from the Arizona Secretary of State’s AI and Election Security Advisory Committee, and is designed to be the place that tracks, nudges, slows, and shows how artificial intelligence and elections interact in the years ahead.
The rise of AI-enabled tools is already reshaping election administration. From familiar platforms like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace quietly adding AI features, to new products marketed specifically for election offices, election administrators are facing new choices every day.
But AI doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Its spread brings with it broader philosophical, ethical and environmental questions – from the impact of training large models on climate to debates about the future of human work itself.
Additionally, bad actors are using off-the-shelf systems to generate convincing material meant to deceive people quickly and at scale.
Through this effort, we aim to position election administrators as thoughtful stewards and guardians of the democratic process. That begins with basic AI literacy – not only knowing how to use these tools responsibly, but also recognizing when they are being misused.
This post shares highlights from the new ASU AI & Elections Clinic’s newsletter! For the full story, visit: https://aiandelections.substack.com/p/learning-curve-understanding-and?r=2xhqjv