Daud Olatunji
The tech giant says it will integrate INEC’s final candidate list into its AI system as electoral stakeholders warn against deepfakes and manipulation of election results.
Microsoft has announced plans to restrict the use of its generative artificial intelligence tools to create unrealistic images of political candidates ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
The company’s Senior Director of Global Elections, Dave Liechtman, disclosed this on Wednesday during a panel session at the AI and Democracy Forum in Abuja, saying the initiative was aimed at preventing the unauthorised use of candidates’ identities and curbing the spread of deceptive election-related content.
Liechtman said Microsoft would integrate the final list of candidates released by the Independent National Electoral Commission into its system to help prevent its generative AI tools from producing unrealistic images of the aspirants.
He spoke during a session titled “Will Algorithms Decide the 2027 Vote?” at the two-day forum, which brought together electoral officials, security agencies, civil society organisations, journalists, technology companies and students to examine the implications of artificial intelligence for Nigeria’s electoral process.
“I offered to INEC at their offices this week that — I think you just finalised the candidate list this weekend — we’re going to load that candidate list into our system to make sure that generative AI cannot be used to generate unrealistic images of candidates,” he said.
The commitment comes amid growing concerns about the potential use of artificial intelligence to create misleading photographs, videos and other synthetic content capable of influencing voters, damaging candidates’ reputations and undermining confidence in electoral institutions.
Liechtman said Microsoft and other participating technology companies had committed to removing unauthorised synthetic media depicting political candidates or election officials from their platforms during elections.
He explained that the commitment formed part of the Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in Elections, an agreement signed by technology companies in 2024 to address the misuse of artificial intelligence in electoral processes.
According to him, the participating companies, including Google, have maintained the commitment for about two and a half years and intend to continue enforcing it.
He, however, acknowledged concerns about deepfakes and other forms of AI-generated misinformation, while arguing that their influence on voting behaviour might not be as extensive as commonly feared.
Citing research from the United States, Liechtman said voters could become less trusting of candidates when they discover that the candidates have shared AI-generated synthetic media.
He warned political aspirants against circulating misleading content, saying such actions could undermine their credibility rather than improve their electoral prospects.
“All candidates should take note of that and say, ‘Oh, when I’m sharing garbage out there, it actually turns people off to voting,’” he said.
Meanwhile, the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, said the commission had established an artificial intelligence unit to strengthen its digital infrastructure and improve the management of electoral processes, including election results.
Amupitan said AI-powered cybersecurity systems could help detect and respond to threats such as denial-of-service attacks and brute-force attacks capable of disrupting the commission’s digital platforms.
The development comes as INEC faces the challenge of safeguarding its technological infrastructure against cyberattacks and ensuring that digital tools deployed during the 2027 elections are reliable and secure.
However, the growing deployment of AI in election management has also raised questions about transparency, accountability and the ability of electoral authorities to detect and respond swiftly to manipulated content.
In his welcome address, the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, identified the restoration of public confidence as one of the major challenges ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Itodo said a voting intention survey recently released by the organisation indicated that many Nigerians remained doubtful about the credibility of the electoral process and whether their votes would count in the next general election.
“Just last week, Yiaga Africa issued a national voting intention survey report, where it is obvious that Nigerians doubt the credibility of the process, and that their votes will not count in 2027,” he said.
He stressed that deploying technology alone would not guarantee credible elections, arguing that the integrity of the officials managing electoral systems remained equally important.
“It is one thing to deploy technology; it is another thing for the personal integrity of those managing those technologies to deliver,” Itodo added.
The Yiaga Africa chief also expressed concern over the increasing number of AI-powered platforms being developed to aggregate election results ahead of the polls.
He urged organisations developing such platforms to ensure that their systems were accurate, transparent and open to independent scrutiny.
According to him, clear methodologies and verifiable processes are necessary to establish public trust in the figures generated by election-related technology.
Forum focuses on AI and electoral integrity
The AI and Democracy Forum, themed “Safeguarding the 2027 General Elections in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” was organised by Yiaga Africa in partnership with INEC, Microsoft, TikTok, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Dataphyte, the MacArthur Foundation, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and the German Agency for International Cooperation, among other organisations.
The forum examined the opportunities and risks associated with artificial intelligence in elections, including its potential to strengthen cybersecurity and improve information management, as well as its capacity to facilitate misinformation and manipulation.
Liechtman said AI, like other transformative technologies, could be deployed for beneficial or harmful purposes, making it necessary for stakeholders to maximise its advantages while establishing safeguards against abuse.
As preparations for the 2027 elections gather momentum, the commitments announced by Microsoft and other technology companies are expected to form part of broader efforts to address digital manipulation.
However, the effectiveness of the measures will depend on how consistently they are enforced, how quickly deceptive content is detected and removed, and whether electoral authorities, political parties and technology companies can work together to protect voters from misleading information.
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