AI And Our Human Societies

InnovationAIAI And Our Human SocietiesByJohn Werner,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I am an MIT Senior Fellow & Lecturer, 5x-founder & VC investing in AIFollow AuthorJun 05, 2026, 09:14am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Official ballot box, San Francisco, California, January 29, 2026. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)Gado via Getty ImagesAs the world gets ready for another American mid-term national election in November, there’s a lot of debate about how it is going to go. There are many factors in play, but one big one is brand new: the ability of AI to introduce information into the public electorate, to influence people in new ways.“Tech companies have taken important steps recently to help protect elections from AI, but more needs to be done to safeguard democracy,” writes Mekela Panditharatne at the Brennan Center for Justice.Basically, the raw power of these technologies may mean that there are many more attack vectors from which to launch misinformation, distortions, or other phenomena that can impact a clean vote, especially in a country of this size, and with the particular history that is the heritage of the U.S.A.Words from BostonRecently, a panel convened here at MIT to talk about these specific issues, of AI and democracy. Moderator Songyee Yoon interviewed Bailey Flanigan, Charles Stewart and Lily Tsai about related issues, and the prospect for electoral health.Flanigan mentioned challenges in evaluating the scope of AI’s impact.“It's really hard to actually get a bird's eye view of what these technologies are doing, and how they're intervening on the public, which I think just really changes the landscape of regulation and requires like new tools that are being developed right now for auditing, but for which we were really, I think, not prepared,” she said, suggesting a public co...