AI in the Ballot Box (2026 Edition)
As the United States approaches the 2026 midterm elections, artificial intelligence is drawing attention both as a source of political information and a potential threat to democracy.
Voters are turning to AI tools to learn about elections, compare candidates, and evaluate policies. Campaigns are also using generative AI to profile voters, craft persuasive messages, and engage the public through chatbots. Join us for a panel discussion on how AI could shape the 2026 elections, from helping voters make informed decisions to enabling misinformation and manipulation. We will explore what these tools mean for political persuasion, public trust, and the future of democratic participation. This event is part of the Frontiers in Data Science and AI initiative at the Data Science Institute, Columbia University.
Details & Registration
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 (5:30 PM - 7:00 PM)
Davis Auditorium, CEPSR (4th Floor - Campus Level) - Campus Map
Speakers
Additional speakers to be announced soon!
Yamil Ricardo Velez is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. His research focuses on how the quality of political information influences political engagement and representation.
His most recent work explores the potential for generative artificial intelligence to enhance our understanding of public opinion through the use of adaptive surveys.
His work has been published in journals such as American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, and Political Analysis.
He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Experimental Political Science and Political Psychology.
Before joining Columbia, he held faculty positions at George Washington University and Wesleyan University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stony Brook University.
Christopher Barrie is an Assistant Professor in NYU's Department of Sociology, as well as a Core Faculty for NYU's Center for Social Media, AI, and Politics.
Barrie is a political sociologist of conflict, communication, and political attitudes. Methodologically, he specializes in natural language processing techniques, language models, and the repurposing of digital trace data for social science research.
Barrie is particularly interested in advancing the use of social media, news, and communications data to study populations that have traditionally been 'hard-to-reach' in the empirical social sciences. He is also interested in the use of new computational techniques for studying the relationship between online information consumption and political attitudes.
Dhrumil Mehta is Associate Professor in Data Journalism and Deputy Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. As a data journalist since 2014 for the website FiveThirtyEight, Mehta helped to illuminate American attitudes and media coverage on everything from COVID-19 to the impeachment of Donald Trump to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mehta has produced a variety of digital-native works that utilize data-driven methods of journalistic inquiry as well as presentation. For example, when the mass shooting happened in Parkland, Florida in 2018, Mehta composed a nuanced interactive quiz to test readers’ knowledge about where Americans stand on gun policy based on polling data.
Mehta’s analysis of data on media coverage of Hurricane Maria showed that the devastation in Puerto Rico received relatively little media coverage when compared to other natural disasters and news stories.
Mehta also built and maintained the site’s core databases, applications and other reporting tools, including a public data repository that serves as a resource to readers, reporters and academics.
As a Visiting Associate Professor in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, Mehta has equipped public policy students with the programming and data skills to better manage issues at the intersection of technology and governance. He also worked with graduate students at Columbia’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and the Journalism School to tell cartographic narratives, guiding students from idea to research, interviews, data analysis and presentation.
Mehta holds a master’s degree in computer science from Northwestern University with a focus on artificial intelligence and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the same university.
Agenda
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
5:15 PM: Doors Open
5:30 PM: Opening Remarks
5:40 PM: Panel Discussion (45 min)
6:25 PM: Q&A (20 min)
6:45 PM: Panel Discussion Ends - Guests can mingle with our speakers!
7:00 PM: Event Ends
FAQs
Campus Access for External Guests: The Columbia Morningside campus is open to the Columbia community. If you do not have an active CUID, registration is required. The deadline to register is at 12:00 PM the day before the event. External guests will receive a QR code by email to enter campus.