Ole Miss Scholars Publish Guide on AI and Election Integrity

A new international volume on artificial intelligence and elections, released December 1, 2025 and published by Springer, brings research from scholars, technologists, legal experts and journalists to bear on how AI is changing the flow of election information. Andrea Hickerson, dean of the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi and director of the Center for Information Advantage and Effectiveness, and Marquita Smith, associate dean of academic affairs and associate professor of media and communication, contributed chapters that focus on narrative dynamics and civic access.

The book arrives as global bodies and researchers warn of accelerating risks. The World Economic Forum 2024 Global Risks Report ranked misinformation and disinformation driven by AI as the most severe global risk over the next two years, and studies show Americans of all political backgrounds express concern about how election information circulates. The volume asks readers to consider not only technical remedies, but social, ethical, cultural and civic dimensions of information flow.

Hickerson’s chapter, titled AI and Elections: The Narrative Approach, maps how political storytelling forms and spreads in digital networks, drawing on journalism communication international relations and computing to explain why some stories resonate. Smith’s chapter, The Power of AI to Strengthen Civic Engagement, examines ways AI can reduce barriers to participation by summarizing dense policy language, supporting multilingual access and offering reliable real time answers to voter questions while warning that design and oversight must guard against bias and misuse.

The Ole Miss contributions also sit within a broader comparative discussion of election contexts in the United Kingdom and parts of Africa, underscoring that issues of transparency access and trust are both local and global. "Media content fuels understanding for many people," Hickerson said, emphasizing the role of journalism education. "Our field, in particular, has an urgent responsibility to help our campus and communities understand risks and possibilities of AI in society."

For Lafayette County officials educators and voters the book serves as a practical reference that can inform local election communication training, voter assistance services and civic technology projects. "If we get that right, AI can serve as a tool for civic empowerment rather than exclusion," Smith said, pointing to design choices that prioritize equity clarity and access.