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@article{198956,
        author = {Isha Rathore},
        title = {AI-Driven Psychographic Voter Profiling in Indian Elections: A Review of Methods, Social Media Data, and Ethical Challenges},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {11},
        pages = {11418-11427},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=198956},
        abstract = {The rapid proliferation of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) has fundamentally transformed political communication and electoral strategy. This paper presents a systematic review of AI-driven psychographic voter profiling, examining the technical methods by which AI leverages social media data to model voter behavior, segment electorates, and enable precision-targeted political messaging. Core methodologies analyzed include data harvesting, natural language processing (NLP), OCEAN-based psychographic modeling, and behavioral segmentation. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is examined as the defining case study of large-scale, ethically problematic voter profiling. The paper devotes particular attention to the Indian electoral context, surveying the role of platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube in shaping political discourse across a diverse and digitally heterogeneous electorate. A comparative analysis of international regulatory frameworks—including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) 2023—contextualizes the policy response to these technologies. The paper further identifies critical open challenges spanning data reliability, algorithmic opacity, regulatory underdevelopment, and the structural digital divide, and proposes a future research agenda oriented toward transparent, accountable, and democratically safe deployment of AI in elections. Findings indicate that while AI-driven profiling enhances campaign efficiency and personalization, it simultaneously poses existential risks to democratic integrity. This makes it important to carefully examine how these technologies are used and to ensure they do not weaken democratic processes.},
        keywords = {Artificial Intelligence, Cambridge Analytica, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, Ethics, OCEAN Model, Psychographic Profiling, Social Media, Indian Elections, Voter Behavior, Microtargeting.},
        month = {April},
        }