ADM+S hosts USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative to consider Fair Elections in the Age of AI
Author ADM+S Centre
Date 4 December 2024
On 4 December 2024 the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-making and Society met with colleagues from the University of Southern California’s Election Cybersecurity Initiative for a day-long workshop around fair elections in the age of AI.
RMIT University Vice Chancellor Alec Cameron welcomed attendees, explaining “This is an essential event for sharing experiences across countries.”
The program brought together journalists, policymakers, researchers and industry experts to examine the capabilities of current AI systems, the dynamics of digital media platforms, and the institutional, technical and regulatory strategies that can protect elections now and in the future.
“This is one of the most interesting conferences we’ve had anywhere in the world,” said Adam Clayton Powell, Executive Director of the USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative.
“What we find is that all of the free and fair democracies around the world share some of the same challenges and some of the same adversaries.
“Our job here is to connect the best practices around the world and to put people in touch with each other because the bad actors are always evolving and always changing, looking for vulnerabilities.”
Across the day, sessions covered digital infrastructures and political economies, verifying and fact checking, election auditing, media obligation, online credibility, and much more.
ABC journalist and ADM+S Industry partner Casey Briggs delivered a ‘What just happened? The US Election in Review’ presentation, after covering the event extensively in his role at ABC Australia.
Experts in academia contributed insights from respective fields, spanning fact-checking, AI, digital cultures, dis- and misinformation, platform regulation, and more, with case studies and evidence to ground critical discussions.
Closing the event, ADM+S Director Prof Julian Thomas said, “It’s been inspiring to see the work the Election Cybersecurity Initiative are doing, especially the engagement in public education, policy, and with practitioners in the field.
“It’s been an incredible day for us,” he said.
A recording of this event will be made available on the ADM+S YouTube channel shortly.
