NPR: voters lean on AI chatbots to research 2026 ballots

On Oct. 4, NPR reported that some voters casting ballots in the 2026 midterms are leaning on AI chatbots to research candidates and even decide who to vote for.

The 4:37 segment, reported by Ayesha Rascoe and Maham Javaid, frames the behavior as voters "trying something new to get ready for the election," asking AI tools to help pick a side.

Parallel coverage the same day in The Boston Globe described the cycle as "the first-ever AI election." Amanda Litman, founder of Run For Something, told the Globe: "Candidates, you need to be where voters are, and where voters are is asking GPT who to vote for." The Globe also cited an August study from the States United Democracy Center that found "ChatGPT and Google AI offer incomplete and inconsistent responses to common voter questions, even as the accuracy of AI platforms improves."

Not every voter is sold. Caitlyn Burns, a Democrat from Malden, told the Globe: "It hasn't crossed my mind as something useful for politics. I guess I don't trust it to ask it questions."