From Civic Voice to Synthetic Influence: AI and the Future of Political Communication
Abstract
Artificial intelligence is becoming an infrastructure of political communication rather than a discrete campaign tool. It affects how sustainability issues become visible, how publics are segmented, how institutions listen, and how political claims are verified. This article examines the relationship between artificial intelligence and the Sustainable Development Goals through a communication-centred perspective. A critical qualitative review and a comparative reading of institutional cases support a four-dimensional matrix based on visibility, voice, verifiability, and vulnerability. The analysis shows that automated systems can translate complex policy data into accessible narratives, support deliberation, and widen the reach of public communication. The same infrastructures can also fragment audiences, intensify political targeting, automate persuasive content, and erode trust through synthetic media and opaque moderation. Their democratic value therefore depends on disclosure, contestability, plural exposure, human oversight, and equitable access. Responsible governance should treat communication as a constitutive dimension of sustainable policy rather than a downstream exercise in dissemination.
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