Can artificial intelligence (AI), if not decisive, then at least an advantage, play a role in shaping public opinion and pre-election deception? Even more developed societies are not ready for this challenge, but it is inevitable that we, too, will have to face it.
It is already clear from several past election cycles that social media plays one of the key roles in pre-election campaigns. However, there is growing fear that in the campaign ahead of the 2026 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), so-called “tricks” will be used – similar to those successfully applied worldwide to win over voters, based on or generated with AI.
“AI will certainly be used in the next campaign for fake information and even the creation of videos that are not true. Citizens must be aware of this and be prepared to recognize such things, act accordingly, and not believe everything they see on the internet,” said Ahmed Kosovac, spokesperson for Our Party.
“I think we can see examples, for instance, from the United States (U.S.), but also from examples of our federal ministers using AI in election videos and in videos supporting them,” emphasized Ajna Katica, project coordinator at the Boris Divkovic Foundation.
Although our country, by established pattern, lags behind all global trends, when it comes to the use of AI, the situation is only slightly different in various countries. Everywhere, societies are confronting the rapid changes brought by AI development, which are difficult to follow and, therefore, regulate.
“Basically, the same AI tools are used to produce disinformation. There is also the so-called democratization of disinformation, because anyone with a smartphone can produce it. I think similar patterns exist in all parts of the world,” said Elesa Zehndorfer, author of a publication on the use of AI in the electoral process from the United Kingdom (UK).
“While the European Union (EU) has created its regulations on AI, we in the region, including Macedonia, where I come from, are not even discussing it yet,” stated Emil Kirjas, author of a publication on the use of AI in the electoral process from North Macedonia.
Research has shown that the capabilities offered by AI favor right-wing political options because they align with their more aggressive way of communicating with voters. Consequently, democracy and all other, more liberal currents are at risk compared to the strict right. BiH, as well as the region, is insecurely positioned at a digital and geopolitical crossroads. The digital sphere is the decisive front line: social media is now the battlefield for computer-driven disinformation, directed by conservative domestic actors and amplified by malicious foreign influence.
