AI and Elections in India: Empowering Ground-Level Politicians

In India, AI tools have become an integral part of political campaigns and their strategies, particularly in state elections where the need for hyper-localised messaging for the designated target audience is most important. AI is now used to generate tailored voter engagement content, predict voter behaviour, and even analyse public sentiment. These tools help candidates respond in real time to changing voter preferences and customised campaign strategies, which ensures more efficient and personalised campaigns. 

At Geostrata, we use a range of AI tools to craft our content—from creating visually engaging AI-generated posters to deploying suggested strategies in the social media tools we use, to getting inspiration for our Youtube thumbnails—we have fully embraced the revolution brought about by AI. Our approach not only helps personalise content for specific demographics but also helps us adjust our content promotion strategies based on real-time feedback, which helps us engage with our audience better. 

AI creates election forecasts and recognizes swing voters 

AI’s potential in Indian state elections is profound. While national elections have witnessed AI-driven tools since the 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign, state elections are also rapidly adopting these strategies. For instance, political parties have started to use predictive analytics and machine learning to identify swing voters and create messaging for their targeted demographic since the same strategy cannot guarantee the same results for every campaigning party in the country. That’s why one of the major shifts in political campaigning has been micro-targeted voter outreach, something that smaller, state-level politicians particularly benefit from. AI tools can deeply analyse vast sets of data, from social media activity to voting history, to generate personalised messages aimed at specific voter segments. It is also used to see what worked and what didn’t for political parties that won or lost in the previous elections. 

However, this could also range from focusing on economic issues in one district to emphasising education policy-based objectives in another. Having an AI model similar to the ones used in BJP’s 2014 political campaigns could generate and predict accurate voter behaviour based on historical data and present-day feedback, thus allowing for better resource allocation. 

Furthermore, AI has branched out into more sophisticated branches of technology, namely, a machine learning technology called Natural Language Processing (NLP), which gives computers the ability to interpret, manipulate, and comprehend human language—and can sift through an individual’s social media conversations while analysing public sentiment. For example, during the Karnataka elections, AI tools monitored real-time reactions to candidates’ policy proposals. By adjusting their strategies quickly through this method, politicians could appeal to voters’ immediate demands and concerns—something that can be vastly scaled down for state and district politicians. 

Workshops for local politicians 

For ground-level politicians, starting small and local does not necessarily translate to being left behind in the AI race. AI-powered tools such as Canva AI or Grammarly can help generate visually appealing and grammatically perfect campaign material in one's regional language at a fraction of the cost of professional teams. Platforms like Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) also allow for targeted AI-powered ad placements that local politicians can afford. This level of micro-targeting ensures ads reach the most relevant audience with minimal expenditure and maximum impact. 

However, as we’re still progressing in the field of AI, smaller political parties may not have the technological expertise that larger parties hold, which is a problem AI workshops can solve. These workshops can equip a party’s staff with sufficient and relevant AI knowledge, which would help them create campaign content, strategise their plans, and analyse social media data. As such, in recent Maharashtra state elections, some local politicians held AI training workshops to get their teams up to speed, thus making them more agile and adaptive to changing voter dynamics. Some politicians in the state of Bihar also used AI to create campaign materials. This is not to say that traditional campaign methods like door-to-door canvassing, print ads and mass rallies do not hold value, it is to imply how they could be increasingly supplemented by AI-powered digital strategies. Content tailored to young voters that helps in creating a two-way dialogue and makes the audience feel heard is an efficient strategy, especially with younger and more tech-savvy audiences. This could be done by local politicians to use AI and predict issues relevant to specific age groups and create content that speaks directly to them. 

Communication with first-time voters via WhatsApp chatbots 

In the 2023 Rajasthan elections, younger candidates running for local positions experimented with AI-powered WhatsApp chatbots to communicate with first-time voters, answering their questions in real-time. With the way AI is progressing, this trend is likely to grow in other states as well. Engaging in the right medium is also important—for instance, what social media platform works for one demographic may not necessarily work for the other. 

However, it is important to note that while AI helps automate and enhance campaign strategies and efforts, it should be used carefully. For instance, AI-generated content should be regularly checked for watermarks or other signs of automation, since this may come across as insincere to voters. Leaving everything up to AI could make one’s entire campaign impersonal—thus, politicians should aim to strike a balance between the convenient efficiency AI offers and actually maintaining an authentic connection with their respective constituencies. 

Safety and transparency in the use of AI 

It is also important for politicians to consider other ethical implications, such as data privacy. The usage of AI requires collecting vast amounts of personal data, so politicians must navigate and adhere to regulatory frameworks to avoid the misuse of this data. There are also associated risks of the spread of misinformation, misleading AI generated voice overs or face-swapping videos (which have been previously used in previous national campaigns), and the generation of deep fakes, which could blur ethical lines and tarnish a campaign or political party’s integrity. 

AI is set to truly transform local campaigns and the way political parties are perceived in India. From predicting voter behaviour to coming up with a new strategy in seconds, ground-level politicians hold the power to harness its potential. While ethical considerations need to be kept in mind for sake of transparency, state politicians are increasingly starting to adopt AI and are thus getting involved in generating more responsive, targeted and engaging campaigns—to give us a more informed and engaged electorate.