Political communication in the AI ERA: Social media, Algorithms, and Youth

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in social media has generated a new paradigm in political communication, which in turn, has had important repercussions on the democratic system as a whole and on the new generations of citizens who are the most frequent users of these platforms. In this sense, the present article, with both qualitative and quantitative components, has as its main objective to identify whether the use of AI in social media and the bias that could be generated influence the political decisions of young citizens. The main findings of the research indicate, firstly, that young people have an ambivalent view of social media: they consider them indispensable tools for informing themselves, disseminating news, and engaging in political matters, but at the same time, they believe that the use of AI on these platforms could generate bias through the echo chamber or filter bubble, which would influence their political decisions. In this sense, the new paradigm represented by social media and AI requires young people with critical thinking and the abilities and skills to identify reliable sources and biases that could be present on the different platforms.