With the recent election wrapped up, an interesting analysis emerges on how AI chatbots contributed to voters’ access to information. This election marked the first major involvement of AI in shaping voters’ information streams, and some of the numbers from this shift are worth noting. OpenAI reported that ChatGPT directed approximately 2 million users to other sources for reliable election news.
ChatGPT didn’t simply withhold answers but instead suggested trusted news providers like Reuters and the Associated Press. According to OpenAI’s update, ChatGPT issued these prompts over 2 million times on Election Day and the following day, emphasizing its role as an assistant rather than a direct news source.
Additionally, in the month leading up to Election Day, ChatGPT referred about a million users to CanIVote.org for voting-related inquiries. This platform was specifically recommended for users seeking accurate and up-to-date voting information. Over this period, ChatGPT also declined around 250,000 requests to create images of the candidates, a measure to maintain ethical and reliable content.
By comparison, Perplexity, an AI-based search engine, promoted its own election information hub, which reportedly received 4 million page views, according to Bloomberg.
While it’s challenging to evaluate if these numbers are high or low, they do show significant engagement. For example, on Election Day, CNN’s digital platform attracted around 67 million unique visitors. While CNN’s reach was substantially larger, it’s notable that millions still chose to turn to AI platforms for election information, signaling growing public trust in these tools as a supplementary resource for staying informed.
While OpenAI’s approach of redirecting users to traditional news sources was conservative, Perplexity’s strategy to position itself as a direct election resource appeared bold. Nevertheless, both AI platforms benefited from a controversy-free outcome, as this election was relatively decisive and did not result in prolonged disputes or recounts. This lack of ambiguity may have helped AI platforms avoid significant errors that could have damaged their reputations.
This experience highlights that AI’s role in disseminating election information, though limited, is expanding. As chatbots and AI platforms develop, they could increasingly serve as valuable resources for election information, especially in offering neutral guidance and helping users navigate credible sources for key decisions.
