Published on Thursday by the Cyfrowy Ster Foundation, the analysis—titled On the Horizon: Parliamentary Elections 2027—also highlights AI-generated "slopaganda," cyberattacks and sabotage, hyper-targeted campaigning and political influencers.
A primary concern is voters' growing reliance on AI chatbots to help decide whom to back.
The authors warn that the models behind them could be open to outside influence, for example by being told to favour a particular candidate, or through mass manipulation of the information they learn from.
For example, a disinformation campaign launched months or years before an election could shape how an AI system describes a politician or party when voters start asking questions.
Co-author Mateusz Łabuz told Poland's PAP news agency that algorithms have become the new "gatekeepers" of information, given how much communication now takes place on social media.
The report also warns against "slopaganda"—defined as low-quality, AI-generated political content.
While such material is usually easy to spot as fake, its creators can still turn a profit, expand their reach and gain political influence.
Flooding the information space with such content overloads users, making it tell what is most important.
On security, the authors point to a multi-hour rail disruption in the Netherlands in September and a series of false bomb alerts at Polish facilities.
They also cite data published in February by the ICCT and GlobSec organisations, which recorded 151 Russia-linked sabotage incidents across Europe since 2022, with the highest number (31) occurring in Poland.
Another concern is "hyper-personalisation," where messages are tailored to small groups of voters so that each sees a different version of a candidate.
The authors also say Poland lacks an effective system for monitoring campaign funding.
Among their recommendations are labelling AI-generated political content and requiring political ads to show who paid for them.
They also want more transparency over how influencers earn money during election campaigns, and suggest considering separate criminal liability for middlemen who organise sabotage for hire.
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP