Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Tuesday asked experts to recommend practical measures to effectively fight misinformation and disinformation ahead of the next national election as the misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has now emerged as a global concern.

“The misuse of AI has now become a global headache. Like any other tool, it can be used for both good and bad purposes—a doctor may use it to save lives, while a criminal may use it to commit crimes,” he said while addressing a workshop at the Election Training Institute (ETI) in the city.

The workshop, titled ‘Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Upcoming National Parliament Election to Counter Misinformation and Disinformation’, was jointly organised by the EC’s IDEA and CBTEP projects.

The CEC stressed the need for building a round-the-clock monitoring system to fight the misinformation and disinformation. “The Election Commission is taking steps to integrate AI technology to prevent AI misuse and ensure greater transparency in the electoral process,” he said.

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He said the system must be capable of identifying and countering false or misleading information that emerges even late at night.

“This will be a 24-hour job,” he said, adding that the Election Commission needs to decide what kind of professionals will be involved, how quickly the information can be verified and which organisations will assist in this job to fight misinformation.

“I don’t just want theoretical guidelines; we need a realistic plan — who will work, how many people will be required, and how we will collect information from remote areas,” the CEC told the participants.

Expressing optimism, Nasir Uddin said the workshop will help the Commission formulate effective recommendations to combat electoral misinformation and make the upcoming 13th parliamentary election more credible and transparent.

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All four election commissioners Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Tahmida Ahmad, Md Anwarul Islam Sarker and Brig Gen (retd) Abdul Fazal Md Sanaullah and EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed were present at the event.