Will Algorithms Determine the 2027 Elections?
Will Algorithms Determine the 2027 Elections? I recently attended the AI and Democracy Forum in Abuja, where we considered a question that deserves urgent public attention: Will algorithms determine the 2027 general elections? At first glance, this may appear to be a question about whether artificial intelligence will be used in the electoral process. The deeper question, however, is whether algorithmic systems will shape the information citizens receive, the political narratives they encounter, the candidates they are exposed to, and ultimately the choices they make. Algorithms already influence visibility and public attention. They determine which content is recommended, amplified, or buried. With the rapid development of generative AI, political actors and other interested parties can now produce synthetic images, cloned voices, deepfakes, and highly targeted messages at speed and scale. The danger is not simply that false content may be created. It is that the informati...