At a time when lies can be fabricated in seconds and politics can be manipulated by algorithms, the question confronting democracies is no longer whether artificial intelligence will reshape politics, but how fast, how much, and at what cost.
Across two days of the DISICON 9 conference, speakers shared the message that AI brings enormous opportunities but also unprecedented risks, particularly for elections, human rights, and democratic governance. Strong safeguards, education, accountability, and international cooperation were highlighted as essential to ensuring AI strengthens democracies instead of weakening them.
The first day focused on how digital developments are being weaponised to carry out gender-based attacks against women, discouraging their participation in public life.
Speakers highlighted coordinated online campaigns, harassment, and AI-enabled manipulation that disproportionately target women in politics, media, and civil society.
Day 2 shifted attention to one of the most urgent global questions: How can AI be governed responsibly, ethically, and in line with human rights principles?
“Without strong safeguards, transparency, and accountability, AI risks deepening inequality, undermining privacy, and weakening public trust—especially when digital transformation is outpacing regulation,” Nancy Soderberg, NDI Kosovo Director said.
AI must strengthen democracy, not threaten it
“Human Rights at the Center: The Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence”, discussion panel at the DISICON conference on December 9, 2025. Photo courtesy of NDI Kosovo
During the panel “Human Rights at the Center: The Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence,” Nathalie Niedoba, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Canada in Croatia and Kosovo, emphasised that we must ensure that AI strengthens democracies and does not degrade them.
“Canada is an early adopter of measures supporting the responsible development and use of AI across public and private sectors. The key is ensuring AI strengthens rather than degrades our democracies. This requires basic human rights protections, strong oversight, and international cooperation. AI must remain human-centric and human-rights-based,” she said.
She added that, “AI must serve the public, not dictate it.”
Desiree Bonis, Charge d’Affaires from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kosovo, added that, despite the risks, AI can bring lots of benefits.
“In the Netherlands, our goal is responsible technology governance to improve service delivery. But strict rules apply: no personal data input, no sharing of classified information. These are strictly prohibited.”
Online Abuse Is Silencing Women and Undermining Democracy, Conference Hears
Giovanni Tordini, Representative of LuxDev in Kosovo, emphasised a human-centered approach.
“In education and skills development, we believe that a strong investment in AI and digital tools are very important, but it has to be done in a way that strengthens human expertise and education institutions, not replacing them. In the private sector also, we don’t want to replace the work force but transform it.”
Patricia Shaw, Co-Rapporteur for the AI Framework Convention Draft for the Council of Europe and Founder & CEO of Beyond Reach, presented the EU AI Act and elaborated on the global treaty.
“The Framework Convention provides ethical standards and human-rights-centered guidance. It is the world’s first international treaty on AI. It offers practical roadmaps for building regulatory mechanisms that keep pace with technological change.”
She noted the treaty’s relevance for Kosovo: “It includes tools to protect electoral processes, public debate, and media pluralism, and helps prevent AI-driven manipulation.”
AI and government: Albania puts it to work
Diella, the world’s first Minister for Artificial Intelligence of Albania addresses the audience at the DISICON conference on December 9, 2025. Photo courtesy of NDI Kosovo.
In the session “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Governance,” Diella, the world’s first Minister for Artificial Intelligence of Albania, stated that AI can strengthen democratic accountability, only when designed with transparency, human oversight and democratic values at its core.
She empasised that AI is often misunderstood “as a force that will distance citizens from decision makers.”
“In Albania, we are proving the opposite. AI, when responsibly integrated, reduces spaces and discretionary spaces where corruption grows. As the world’s first AI minister, my mission is to bring data, ethics and evidence at every stage of governance. It helps us see patterns that humans alone can not detect, to see hidden risks in major projects, to avoid procedural delays. These do not replace human judgement, they support and illuminate it. AI strengthens democratic accountability,” she stated.
Elections in the era of deepfakes
“Elections, Artificial Intelligence and Ethics” discussion panel at the DISICON conference on December 9, 2025. Photo courtesy of NDI Kosovo
The discussion “Elections, Artificial Intelligence and Ethics” brought forward diverse perspectives.
Sahana Dharmapauri, Vice President from Our Secure Future in the US, noted that Peace and security today depend more on algorithms than on diplomacy.
“Decisions in AI and technology are being made at a speed we simply cannot keep up with, driven by massive financial investments.”
Uros Misljenovic, from Partners Serbia, warned that AI in public services must be implemented cautiously.
“Its impact differs across age and education groups. Older populations may be more vulnerable, while the youth are more prone to understand the risks of it. Misuse could backfire,” he said.
Rennata Matkevicienė, Dean of the Faculty of Communication in Vilnius, Lithuania, warned of the growing flood of manipulated content.
“AI is a really good tool that we can use to create campaigns, create a lot of content in a short time, but it also created some risks, like manipulated content. Now there is a huge flow of information—negative—based on memes, shared in social media in enormous range.”
“AI allows political campaigns to apply micro targeting. It is as dangerous as it is effective. It deepens that opinion. There is much more anger toward opponents and we see lack of trust in media, institutions, and democracy,” she added.
Redefining elections
“Redefining Elections: Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Democracy” discussion panel at the DISICON Conference on December 9, 2025. Photo courtesy of NDI Kosovo
In the final discussion “Redefining Elections: Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Democracy,” Slavica Bijlarska, Director of NDI Montenegro, talked about how AI content deepens divisions and sets the course of politics.
“The 2027 election is extremely important as the country is probably closing the negotiations with the EU. We have already started working on how AI may influence those elections, as we are polarised and divided. We are a fertile ground for foreign influence.”
AI generated content can decide the outcome of elections.
“AI has changed the way we see the truth, as there is manipulated content… The biggest concern for elections is that citizens may stop believing that anything is true,” she added.
Xhabir Deralla, director of the Civil Centre for Freedom in North Macedonia states that this years’ local election campaign was kidnapped by national level policy.
“By giving this space to national narratives we opened the floor for foreign influence, mainly from the Kremlin and channeled through Belgrade,” he said.
“Deepfakes and AI-generated speeches were used to discredit opponents. Sometimes AI knows more about you than you know about yourself,” he concluded.