PartyParty Attends is our signature series where we immerse ourselves in the political arena’s most dynamic discussions. We bring you the inside story from political professionals throughout Europe as if you were sitting in the front row of these events.
Berlin has always been a hub of political discourse and continues to shape political narratives. Set against this historic city, the European Association of Political Consultants (EAPC) held its annual conference from 15—18 May, focusing on the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in political communication. Conveniently located near PartyParty’s office, we had the opportunity to attend and gain insights from various discussions. Here are our main takeaways from the conference that every political professional should know about.
Technical opportunities of AI
Gauss Zaftra Fund
Gauss Zaftra Fund is the first hedge fund focused on global electoral events. Dr Mauricio Jose Moura, founder and former CEO of IDEIA Big Data, opened the conference with a presentation of Gauss Zaftra II FIC FIM IE, which is intended for Brazilian investors. The fund explores market opportunities related to electoral events.
“The model is showing that as of today, Donald Trump is winning”, answered Dr Moura when asked about the US Presidential election 2024. On a question about the EP election 2024, he said: “In EU countries with low voter turnout, the extreme right is doing better.”
Agents Inc
Agents Inc. is at the forefront of AI self-regulation, employing an innovative strategy where AI agents govern other AI systems. By utilising advanced large learning models (LLMs), Agents Inc. seeks to establish a comprehensive solution for AI oversight, ensuring the controlled and context-aware application of AI technologies across various sectors.
Tatjana Samsonowa-Denef, who presented the work of Agents Inc., explained the concept of AI controlling AI. She emphasised, “AI is all about context.” The company is developing AI agents—essentially digital employees with a high degree of autonomy—that are designed to reliably perform generative AI tasks. Once an AI agent receives a task, it continuously connects to internal and external data sources and leverages knowledge from other AI models to produce a reliable, real-time result.
Put simply, AI controlling AI means using AI agents as project managers that distribute tasks among other AI agents. This approach is more effective than relying on a single AI algorithm, as it allows for a more dynamic and efficient task management system.
Humans.ai
Humans.ai says it is the world’s first blockchain platform offering an ecosystem for scaling and managing AI within an unparalleled framework of ethics and transparency. The platform, founded by Sabin Dima, leverages blockchain for unbiased data validation and AI governance, ensuring fair and ethical AI applications. The system is designed to extract data, map problems, define opportunities, and perform actions, creating AI agents that understand and interact seamlessly with human needs.
Party perspective on AI
Insights from FDP – German Free Demotic Party
Carsten Reymann, Managing Director of FDP, shared his party’s experiences with AI and digitalisation. “Digital first. Concerns second” is the approach he advocates for. “Technology is not good or bad. It’s there. It keeps our world rolling,” said Reymann. In his view, politics is a mass market, which is only manageable with technology and AI. But he also sees the value of AI as more significant. “AI is going to be good in mass communications, but we will also have stronger developments in personal communications,” Reymann added.
An AI-driven shift in strategy
Jan Töpfer from Cosmonauts & Kings, the agency hired to handle Ursula von der Leyen’s European Parliament election campaign, believes that AI will fundamentally alter political communications. Töpfer asserts that AI is not merely a shift in strategy but a profound transformation of the entire concept of political communication. “What we see today is the tip of the iceberg,” said Töofer.
Predictive AI
Predictive AI emerged as a key theme in one of the panels. AI has the potential to revolutionise campaign planning and analysis by predicting what kind of outcome a campaign could have in certain circumstances. Predictive models could forecast campaign outcomes under various scenarios, which will greatly impact how campaigns are planned and analysed.
Human intelligence in AI’s shadow
Despite AI’s growing influence, the human element in political campaigns remains crucial. Michel Reimon, a member of the Austrian parliament, highlighted that political coaching and advisory roles cannot be fully automated. He argued for the continued importance of human expertise in navigating the nuanced landscape of political strategy.
Cygnal
Cygnal is a Washington-based polling and analytics firm. Brent Buchanan, President of Cygnal, noted that AI’s effectiveness largely depends on the quality of the questions posed and the prompts given. He warned of the potential for AI to erode trust. “AI can take us from a point of not trusting most things to not trusting anything. Because anything you see – audio, video, written word – could be manipulated,” said Buchanan.
Ethical and regulatory considerations
AI and bias
Prof. Sabine T. Koeszegi addressed the critical issue of AI bias, particularly regarding gender discrimination. “AI is a mirror of our societal situations but not only. It is exaggerating discrimination and increasing stereotypical behaviour and inequality among genders. We need to address these issues in real life, but we should also tackle discrimination in AI technologies,” Koeszegi said. She emphasised the importance of fairness by design, advocating for inclusive and non-biased AI tools. “AI needs to be at least aligned with the state of the art,” Koeszegi insisted.
AI regulation
The conference also addressed the complexities of AI regulation. Discussions centred on the need for transparent AI tools that align with current technological standards and regulations, such as the EU AI Act. Speakers underscored regulators’ challenges in keeping pace with rapid AI advancements and the necessity for robust certification processes to ensure AI’s ethical application in political contexts.
Political campaigns in times of AI
How fair are elections in times of AI?
A panel discussion explored trust in elections and AI’s impact on democracy. The adoption of AI was likened to social media’s influence on campaigns, highlighting both benefits and potential for disruption. Torbjörn Sjöström noted that AI could exacerbate anonymity and irresponsibility in communication, while Christoph Hofinger pointed out that anger is a strong trigger in social media, suggesting AI might help mitigate this.
Acknowledging these concerns, Party Party Programme Manager Marie Wutzler emphasised AI’s potential. “AI is a new tool that political parties need to adapt to. Whether they use it fairly or unfairly is up to them to decide. The big challenge is that parties have very little time to adapt to the new reality of AI. You see the effects already, so they need to make it a priority,” said Wutzler. The discussion highlighted that while AI can democratise campaign resources, it also amplifies the challenge of maintaining trust and integrity in political communication.
US Presidential election 2024
In a panel on AI’s role in the U.S. presidential election, Matt Klink discussed the transformative impact of AI on campaign strategies. “There will be a story in 2024. We don’t know what it will be yet as it is being written,” said Klink. Possibly, the story will be about micro-targeting. AI’s ability to micro-target voters in pivotal states has the potential to sway election outcomes.
However, Klink noted the challenges of regulating AI, especially with the proliferation of deep fakes and the distrust in regulators. He underscored AI’s dual potential for good and evil, comparing its disruptive power to previous technological advances, and stressed the enduring value of personalised communication amidst these changes. “There will be something after AI for which they will say – this will destroy democracy. But we survived many such things,” said Klink.
Istanbul Mayoral election 2024
Necati Özkan, renowned for his role in helping centre-left candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading opponent of conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, won re-election as Istanbul’s mayor this year, shared insights on the practical application of AI in political campaigns. Özkan emphasised the power of reality over AI-generated content, reflecting on his experiences in Turkish local elections. He stressed that while AI can optimise campaign processes, the authenticity of real-life content remains unparalleled.
PartyParty’s approach to AI and its transformative power
Someone once said that if you take one thing from a conference, it’s a good conference. We took plenty of insights and “food for thought” from the EAPC conference in Berlin, inspiring us to reflect on AI’s transformative power and our contribution to the debate. The AI revolution that we are experiencing is a “make or break” moment for democracy, which has the potential to fundamentally reshape the political landscape. The conference reinforced the need to prioritise AI development, regulation, and integration in all spheres, especially in politics and political communication.
