What happened
A referendum is taking place in Alberta, Canada, where residents are voting on 10 questions, including whether to stay in Canada or have a second, binding referendum on leaving the confederation. Experts are eyeing this event as a case study on the impacts of artificial intelligence.
According to Aengus Bridgman, director of the Media Ecosystem Observatory, popular artificial intelligence chatbots and search engines can provide conflicting responses to questions about the potential effects of an independent Alberta. For example, asking whether taxes would be higher in an independent Alberta might yield different answers at different times, due to the constantly changing data used to predict responses.
A report by the Media Ecosystem Observatory documented mixed responses to questions about the potential consequences of an independent Alberta, including the impact on taxes and pensions. The report tracks how AI technologies are being used in online discourse ahead of the referendum, which is seen as a test case for how AI could influence future elections.
Experts note that social media and AI have expanded debates on separation, making it a lively democracy, but also making it more complex to track the referendum and elections in general. Elections Alberta warns that AI-powered chatbots and search engines are not official sources of election information and often cite incorrect sources.