The Politics of Artificial Intelligence Behaviour and Human Rights Violation Issues in the 2016 US Presidential Elections: An Appraisal

Abstract

The outcry from organizations and concerned bodies responsible for regulating and protecting the security and privacy of citizens’ data have suddenly been on the increase since the unearthing of the recent scandal regarding data gathered from the users of Facebook by Cambridge Analytica (CA) without prior consent. Data belonging to over 87 million Facebook users were admittedly passed on to third-party organizations who used them to manipulate the views and opinions of American citizens, a move largely believed influenced and altered the results and outcome of the 2016 US presidential elections in favour of certain individuals, an action largely believed undermines the Fundamental Human Rights (FHR) of the citizens affected. The Marxian Alienation Theory and Derrider’s critical and qualitative analytical method for evaluating arguments and data gathered on the subject matter of the paper were adopted for the study, with the view to highlight the inimical influences of AI politicking on the FHR of Americans and her institution of democracy. The paper observed that the Facebook and CA scandal has given room for questioning the integrity and credibility of future election outcomes in American. There is an alarming dearth of viable regulations and ethical codes governing the reckless use of AI politicking platforms in the public domain. The paper suggests measures of improving and securing the private rights and data of citizens generally. It also suggests measures for preserving the sanctity and credibility of future election results in American.