Microtargeting in the Age of AI

The Future of AI & Political Influence 

 As a college student studying political science, it's hard not to wonder about the effects of ever-growing Artificial Intelligence on the political sphere. As we have discussed in previous posts, the strategy for microtargeting is to use people's online data to figure out their psychological weaknesses and then hit them with political messages designed to exploit those "vulnerabilities". Imagine being able to use AI, like ChatGPT, to create hundreds of personalized ads at lightning speed. Political campaigns no longer have to carefully craft individual ads for each group because AI can do it for them- better. 

Recent research backs up the effectiveness of AI use and microtargeting. In one study, political ads tailored to match voters' personalities were significantly more persuasive than generic ones. This study used both Facebook ads and AI-generated content (from GPT-3 and ChatGPT) and found that matching the personality of the ad to the personality of the person increased the ad's effectiveness. Now, think about these results when scaled to thousands or even millions of voters, that could have a huge impact on election outcomes. 

The implications of this are massive. AI allows campaigns endless variations of ads, each one crafted with the personal preferences of individual voters in mind. Imagine receiving an ad that not only speaks to your political beliefs but also resonates with your personality and emotions. It seems that it is not just about winning votes anymore; it's about analyzing (and exploiting) how people think and feel real-time.

https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/3/2/pgae035/7591134