Artificial intelligence, communication, and democracy in Latin America: a review of the cases of Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico

Abstract

The concept of algorithmic political communication has arisen through the joint development of propaganda and communication theories, as well as the findings of computer science. This is a field that generates results that amplify and extend to political communication, such as microsegmentation or automated diffusion of content; likewise, it produces some adverse effects that hinder citizen participation in the cybersphere. This paper presents a review of works published in three Latin American countries (Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico) with artificial intelligence, communication, and democracy as their constituent elements. The data come from a total of 206 documents, including reports from supranational organisms and associations, and publications in scientific journals indexed in databases such as Google Scholar and Scopus between 2011 and 2021. The selection criterion is based on the total or partial appearance of certain keywords, plus filters by relevance and impact factors. This systematic review is structured based along four axes that explain democracy according to Landman et al. (2009): electoral participation, participation of civil society, media integrity, and impartial administration. The main conclusions indicate that many of the practices in the studied countries are still at an incipient or experimental stage, with algorithmic political communication being used especially during electoral campaigns. Similarly, an increasing resistance from civil society to the influence of social networks is starting to be detected.