2027 Elections: Experts, Analysts throw weight behind AI checks on voters’ register

Experts and Analysts have thrown their weight behind the planned use of AI to check the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s move to use Artificial Intelligence to check voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general election.

Experts argue that the AI would check duplication of voters registered restore integrity and.confidence of Nigerians on activities of the INEC.

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PUNCH quoted the report ahead of the forthcoming Media Foundation webinar on AI, stated that experts also warned that a fake notice announcing the postponement of voting could keep people away from the polls.

They made reference to Ekiti scenario where an AI generated image caused confusion on social media circulated.purpoeted voters on queues yo sell their votes.

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But fact-checkers at the Centre for Democracy and Development concluded it was AI-generated.

Another image circulated as evidence of massive voter turnout in Ado-Ekiti, but an analysis by the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition showed it was AI-generated.

INEC’s revelation last week that its system flagged down 268,000 records over suspected AI-generated photographs and other irregularities has triggered conversations on the social media space.

INEC admitted that field registration officers and staff used their authorised login details to introduce the AI images and other irregularities into the voters’ register.

INEC also acknowledged that some genuine photographs submitted by voters had been digitally enhanced using AI-powered phone applications.

Providing further details on the figures, INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, said the system had flagged 268,000 records but declined to disclose how many had been reviewed.

Bayode stated that the Automated Biometric Identification System will flag multiple and underage registrations, among others, adding that, “Human Adjudication exercise will remove them. Those that we have seen, we are cleaning up.”

He, however, clarified that photographs enhanced with artificial intelligence would not automatically lead to the exclusion of affected voters, distinguishing between genuine photographs improved with AI applications and images generated entirely by artificial intelligence.

“Those we know it is the AI on the phone that helped enhance their pictures; we can’t exclude such people because it was the AI on the phone that did that.

“Such people will still be on the register, but those AI-generated photographs, all of these will be removed. We are already looking at them,” he said.

INEC’s ICT Director assured voters of the use of ABIS to detect underage voters and multiple voting, and urged Nigerians to verify information on the commission’s media platforms.

“The platform where you can confirm if an election is postponed or cancelled is on INEC media platforms,” Bayode said.

Bayode explained that some individuals allegedly exploited a special registration option designed for persons with disabilities who have incomplete fingers or no fingers to create questionable voter profiles.

He said the option, known as special registration, was among the loopholes allegedly exploited by those responsible for the irregularities detected by the system.

The ICT director said the commission had commenced the process of removing the affected records from the preliminary register.

Reacting to INEC’s discovery of suspected AI-generated photographs in its voters’ register, a Facebook user, Edos Osayande, wrote, “But they told Nigerians they are going to use AI for elections na. This is part of the AI.”

Amupitan defends AI

However, INEC’s Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), defended the commission’s use of AI in election management, warning against misinformation and insisting that the technology should not be regarded as a threat to democracy.

“AI is not an enemy of democracy,” he said at the Beyond the Ballot Summit in Abuja on November 2.

Amupitan said the technology was not a threat to democracy despite its potential misuse by malicious actors, adding that it could improve electoral administration through efficient voter registration, logistics planning, data analysis and the management of large voter databases.

“Artificial Intelligence is not an enemy of democracy,” Amupitan added, though he expressed concern over the growing accessibility of generative AI tools, which he said could be exploited to manipulate voters and spread disinformation during elections.

“However, the rapid democratisation of generative AI models has dramatically lowered the barrier to entry for malicious actors; capacities and capabilities that require state-level intelligence resources, such as high voice cloning of public figures and hyper-realistic synthesis of election officials making false announcements, are now accessible at negligible cost. These tools target specific vulnerabilities with distinct timelines,” he said.

Credit: Punch

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