Artificial Intelligence in South Asian Elections: Balancing Engagement and Integrity Challenges

This chapter explores the dual impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on elections in South Asia, focusing on India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It also examines AI's role across the pre-election, election day, and post-election phases, emphasizing how political culture shapes its application. Using a qualitative approach, the study analyzes credible new sources to assess AI's contributions to voter engagement, election management, and misinformation. This study argues that during the pre-election phase, AI-enhanced personalized voter outreach and campaign strategies were effectively utilized, as evidenced in Pakistan and India, where political parties employed AI to target specific demographics with precision. However, it also fueled disinformation, with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s AI-generated videos in Pakistan and deepfake attacks against political figures in Bangladesh. In India, AI tools blurred the line between engagement and manipulation. On the other hand, on election day, AI's impact became even more pronounced, as deepfake videos were used to manipulate voter perceptions in real time. For instance, during India's Telangana elections, AI-generated content falsely portrayed candidate endorsements, aiming to sway voter decisions. Similar instances in Pakistan and Bangladesh further underscored the growing threat of AI-driven disinformation to the integrity of electoral processes. In the post-election phase, AI reinforced political narratives, such as PTI's AI-generated victory speeches in Pakistan. These findings highlight the urgent need for robust regulations to prevent AI from undermining democracy in South Asia.