Big Thinking Podcast · Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Digital politics in the age of AI

February 27, 2025·32 min·1 clip

Karine Morin opens the program by naming artificial intelligence as a force in digital politics and media. Fenwick McKelvey joins to talk through the risks, rewards, and ethical problems that come with it. He starts with his background in communication, politics, and policy, which helps explain why he reads AI through the history of social media and the older idea that the internet would remake politics. The conversation then turns to bots. McKelvey says bots are now a normal part of contemporary social media, and he does not treat them as purely bad. What matters more, he says, is transparency so people know when they are dealing with a bot. That matters because bots can also shape what people think is popular online. Morin presses him on the political side of that influence and on the care needed when judging whether something is authentic, honest, or transparent. The discussion then moves to his book project, Sim Politics, where he looks at computer simulations used to predict election outcomes. He says the project feels a little strange because he is a Canadian writing about US politics. Morin then raises the US election and Elon Musk's role in President Trump's campaign, asking whether McKelvey sees a connection.

As heard by us

A careful look at how AI, bots, and political influence blur the line between popularity and persuasion.

Big Thinking Podcast treats AI less as a gadget story than as a question of political power: who sets the rules for visibility online, how bots can warp what seems popular, and why authenticity gets harder to trust when non-human actors are in the mix.

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Why you'd press play

If you want AI explained through digital politics, bots, and election campaigns, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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