The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the creation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Division under the ICT Department.
The Commission made this known in a statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, on Thursday.
He said that the approval for the creation of the new division is to continue to harness the positive aspects of AI and mitigate its negative impact on elections.
According to Olumekun, the division will enable the commission to better coordinate and maximise existing technology investments through centralised AI governance.
He added that it will also enhance decision-making through data-driven insights, risk management, and voter engagement.
“Furthermore, it will strengthen electoral credibility through predictive analytics, automation and intelligent safeguards.
“This initiative puts the Commission at the forefront of institutionalising AI capabilities within our ICT infrastructure.
“It is also an important step in our ongoing reform of the electoral process in areas that only require administrative action by the Commission.”
INEC disclosed that it attended several conferences with colleagues around the continent on the impact of AI on elections.
These interactions, the commission said, were not only motivated by the concern over the use of AI to spread fake news or manipulate content online but also to utilise its benefits for data-driven decision-making, risk detection and mitigation, deepening voter services automation and geo-spatial intelligence in support of logistic optimisation for better material distribution and polling unit allocation.