你可以向聊天机器人查询投票地点。但这么做靠谱吗?
距离 2026 年美国中期选举越来越近，人工智能正深刻重塑美国政坛、选举活动与竞选宣传。如今，越来越多选民开始使用 ChatGPT、克劳德等 AI 聊天机器人，查询选举日期、投票流程以及选票上的参选候选人信息，各地选举官员正为此感到棘手。
绝大多数选举官员呼吁民众保持谨慎，他们无法保证选民能够获取精准、可靠的信息。与此同时，各大 AI 企业表示，正努力推送中立信息，优化聊天机器人处理选举相关问题的能力。
不过，部分选举官员认为，这项新技术同样存在机遇，有望为选举工作人员提供助力。 选举官员的多重顾虑
聊天机器人可以快速向选民推送通俗易懂的内容，解答投票时间、投票地点、选票统计方式、结果发布流程等问题。但 AI 也可能提供过时、错误信息，生成虚构内容，或是传播抓取到的虚假信息。
明尼苏达州州务卿史蒂夫・西蒙在一场选举官员会议间隙接受美国广播公司(ABC 新闻)采访时表示：“我的核心观点是，选民应当寻找权威信息来源，而最可靠的信息提供者就是负责选举事务的官方人员。”
西弗吉尼亚州州务卿克里斯・沃纳表达了担忧：民众查询地方选举信息时，如果输入信息不全，机器人很容易给出错误答案。
他举例：“有哈里森县(西弗吉尼亚州)居民想要查询本县信息，但输入关键词时没有注明所在州。全美一共有七个哈里森县，密西西比州、印第安纳州、得克萨斯州等都有同名郡县，选民很可能拿到其他州县的信息。”
部分州官员心存警惕，是因为 AI 已经给当地选举工作带来负面影响。新罕布什尔州州务卿戴维・斯坎伦提到，2024 年初，“花岗岩州” 选民接到一通 AI 语音外呼电话，有人利用人工智能模仿时任总统拜登的声音。今年，当地官员仍在反复提醒民众，务必从官方渠道获取准确选举资讯。
斯坎伦称：“事件发生后，我们迅速作出回应，告知选民：唯一值得信赖的权威信息来源，是地方选举工作人员、州务卿办公室或是总检察长办公室。在即将到来的中期选举中，我们仍在持续宣传这一点。” 他同时认为，长远来看，AI 或许能够帮助选举官员更快向民众传递资讯。
AI 能够提供选举资讯这一新变化，也在调整选举官员对外宣传的侧重点。
华盛顿州州务卿史蒂夫・霍布斯向 ABC 新闻表示：“很多州务卿和选举官员，如今更多讲解选举完整流程，而不只是单纯提醒民众投票日期。”
康涅狄格州州务卿斯蒂芬妮・托马斯则表示，暂时不确定州政府是否会主动联系各大 AI 聊天机器人运营企业。
“回顾社交媒体平台，推动平台建立监管规则的尝试收效参差不齐。” 托马斯说，“所以我不确定 AI 行业会不会有所不同，但我们一定会持续考量这件事。” AI 企业作出回应
多家主流 AI 聊天机器人企业向 ABC 新闻透露，已经采取措施，力求平台为选民输出准确资讯。
ChatGPT 的开发企业 OpenAI 表示，正与美联社合作展示准确选举结果;同时联合非营利机构 “民主工作组织”，当用户咨询投票、选民登记相关问题时，推送可靠资讯。
克劳德所属企业 Anthropic 也推出类似机制：当用户询问选举相关问题，界面将弹出提示横幅，引导民众前往 “民主工作组织” 获取信息。
谷歌旗下的 Gemini 聊天机器人已嵌入谷歌主流搜索服务。谷歌称，平台优先在搜索结果与机器人回答中展示权威选举资讯，附带官方网站直达链接;Gemini 的回复保持中立，不偏袒任何政治立场。
元宇宙平台 Meta 将 Meta AI 嵌入脸书、照片墙、瓦次普等自家社交软件。Meta 表示，除了设置程序推送地方官方选举信息，企业还定期与全美州务卿协会等选举官员组织开展沟通。
Meta 向 ABC 新闻解释，这类沟通能够及时收到反馈：如果大量选民反映在平台看到不实投票信息，协会可以第一时间告知 Meta，企业随即核查修复相关 AI 工具。 部分地方看到 AI 应用前景
俄亥俄州正在尝试利用 AI 聊天机器人赋能选举从业者。
在州务卿会议上，俄亥俄州州务卿弗兰克・拉罗斯的团队介绍了名为伊娃(Eva，选举虚拟助手)的聊天机器人。这款机器人面向选举工作人员开发，不对普通民众开放，训练素材来自州政府内部工作手册，工作人员可以直接向机器人咨询俄亥俄州选举法规与业务细则。
拉罗斯说：“经过多轮测试，我们意识到这是一款实用工具，于是向全州选举工作人员开放使用。随着时间推移，我们也持续对它迭代优化。”
不过拉罗斯作出提醒：工作人员必须对照法律条文、官方指令核验伊娃给出的答案，机器人不能等同于法律顾问;同时该工具难以预判未来选举日期。
其他各州现阶段对引入 AI 聊天机器人持观望态度。
缅因州副州务卿凯特・麦克布林表示：“目前风险过高，未知因素太多，大量信息无法核验。在网络安全保障机制完善之前，缅因州暂不考虑在选举工作中使用这类技术。”
Should you ask AI about voting? Election officials are cautious, but some see opportunity
You can ask a chatbot where you can vote. But should you?
Elections officials are grappling with voters using artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT or Claude, to get information about upcoming election dates, how voting works, and the candidates they'll see on their ballot. It's among the many waysartificial intelligence has transformedpolitics, elections, and campaigns ahead of the2026 midterm elections.
Officials largely urge caution, uncertain that voters will be able to get the precise, accurate information they need. AI companies, meanwhile, say they're working to surface neutral information and to improve their chatbots' ability to talk about elections.
But some election officials also think there's opportunity in harnessing the new technology to help election workers.
Election officials have some concerns
Chatbots could allow voters to find quick, digestible information about when and where to vote, and how votes are counted and results are shared. But voters could also be served outdated or incorrect details, hallucinated details, or misinformation that's been picked up on by the chatbot.
"The bottom line for me is that voters should seek out trusted sources of information, and the most trusted source are people who administer elections," Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told ABC News on the sidelines of a recent gathering of election officials.
West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner told ABC News that he's concerned about what happens if someone tries to look for local details but doesn't type in everything the chatbot needs to know.
"We have somebody in Harrison County [West Virginia] that types in, they need specific information about Harrison County. If they don't put in the name of the state, there's seven other states that all have Harrison counties, so it could be Mississippi, Indiana, Texas or any of the other states. They're not going to get the right information," he said.
Some state officials are wary because they've already dealt with AI causing deleterious impacts in their elections. New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan brought upa robocallvoters intheGranite State received in early 2024that used artificial intelligence to impersonate the voice of then-President Joe Biden, and says they're still driving home the message this year that voters should get accurate information from officials.
"When that occurred, we reacted very quickly ... to inform voters that the only source of accurate information that you can rely on is from your local election officials, or the secretary of state, or the attorney general, and we're still driving that message home in this upcoming midterm election," Scanlan said. He added that he does feel AI down the line might help election officials get information to voters quickly.
The advent of AI providing election information has also changed what some election officials communicate to the public.
"A lot of election officials and secretaries of state have been talking more about the process of elections versus reminding people when to vote," Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs told ABC News.
Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas, meanwhile, told ABC News that she is unsure her office will reach out to the companies running the AI chatbots.
"When you look at the social media companies, it's been a mixed result getting any type of guardrails put in place," Thomas said. "So I'm not sure if the AI community will be very different. But it's certainly something that we'll be considering."
AI companies respond
Some of the companies that run a few of the most prominent artificial intelligence chatbots told ABC News they've taken steps to try to ensure that their software brings up accurate information for voters.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT,says itis workingwith The Associated Press to show accurate election results and with nonprofit Democracy Works "to display reliable information about voting and registration processe. ... when people ask about those topics."
Anthropic, which runs Claude, issetto do something similarwith a visual banner that pops up in response to election inquiries directing people to Democracy Works.
Google, which runs the Gemini chatbot that has also been integrated into most Google web searches, hassaidit prioritizes "surfacing authoritative election information directly within results and responses," including "direct links to official resources." The company also says Gemini is meant to give neutral responses that don't support any political leaning.
Meanwhile, Meta -- which has integrated its Meta AI platform into its social media networks and apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp -- says that in addition to designing the software to give local and official information, the company also meets with associations of election officials.
The company told ABC News that helps voters because representatives from those associations can flag to Meta if they're hearing voters are seeing incorrect information about voting on the company's platforms, allowing the company to check on its tools.
Some offices see opportunities
One state is trying to harness AI chatbot technology to help those who run elections.
During the secretary of state conference, the office of Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose spoke about Eva -- the "Elections Virtual Assistant" -- which isa chatbottheofficecreated for election officials(and not the general public) that was trained on their internal manual. Officials can then ask the chatbot questions about Ohio election procedures and details.
"After some testing, what we realized is this is a great tool and let's make it available to all of our election officials. And of course, we've grown it and improved it over time as well," LaRose said.
That said, LaRose cautioned that officials need to verify Eva's answers against statutes and directives, and the bot cannot serve as legal counsel. It also struggles with figuring out future election dates.
Other states are less sure they'll use AI chatbot technology for now for administering or assisting with elections.
"Right now, it is too risky. There's just too many unknowns and too much unverified information ... until there's really good insurances on cybersecurity, Maine is not comfortable going there for elections yet," Maine Deputy Secretary of State Kate McBrien told ABC News.
