The next session at the 2026 International Communication Association conference in Cape Town is on AI and politics, and starts with a paper by Bohan Zhang and colleagues on AI-generate disinformation in the 2024 US presidential election. This election has been described as one of the first where AI content played a significant role; this included counterfeit AI video and audio on social media platforms.
Such content taps on existing political cynicism: this may both make some people more resistant to AI content due to their overall rejection of political propaganda, but also lead to others embracing AI content as a handy tool in political point-scoring. Content-specific cynicism might also lead to broader, system-wide political cynicism. Such cynicism might present as active withdrawal (disruptive and dis informative behaviours, support for third-party candidates, etc.), exacerbating existing political issues.
This study employed an online survey of some 1,200 US citizens, ahead of the election; it examined their exposure to AI-generated disinformation, perceptions of the prevalence of such information, political cynicism, political trust, and active withdrawal.
Exposure to AI content was a significant predictor of perceptions of its spread; such perceptions also correlated with higher political cynicism; and therefore there is a throughline through all three observations. Cynicism also correlated with support for third-party candidates, and a refusal to accept election results. This effect was moderated by existing levels of political trust. This may have important implications for the health of democracy.
