AI tools for the everyday work of democratic organisations
The AI Unit of the ADAFP Digital Laboratory gives member parties and organisations a shared working environment for research, drafting, translation and civic analysis, used under the ADAFP AI Ethics Charter.
Example: how the Claim Checker reports
“Voter turnout has risen at every national election since 2000.”
- Well supported
- Disputed
- Unclear
- Contradicted
An assessment with its sources, never a blunt true or false verdict.
A working environment, not a public service
The AI Unit is where staff and volunteers of ADAFP member organisations do practical work with AI: researching a policy question, drafting a statement, translating a document between the alliance's languages, or checking a claim before repeating it.
It was built for organisations that cannot afford their own research and communications teams. It is part of the ADAFP Digital Laboratory and works alongside the ADAFP Think Tank and the ALTA Academy.
What members can use
Tools are available to signed-in members. They support human work; they do not replace judgement.
Research and writing
- AI assistant
- Ask questions, think through problems and get first drafts, with a choice of AI models.
- Research search
- Find current information on the web and bring it into your work with its sources.
- Document Studio
- Draft and edit statements, briefs, letters and reports.
- Translation
- Work across English, French, Portuguese and Arabic.
- Website builder
- Produce simple web pages for campaigns and events.
Civic tools
- Claim Checker
- Assesses a statement as well supported, disputed, unclear or contradicted, and shows the sources behind the assessment.
- Legislation Simplifier
- Turns a bill or policy document into a plain-language summary.
- Voter Guide Generator
- Prepares country-specific voter education material, always pointing readers to their national electoral commission.
- Promise Tracker
- Records public commitments made by political actors, with entries reviewed by an editor before publication.
- Encyclopaedia Africana
- Country briefings on African states, linked to the ISS African Futures data where available.
The AI Unit is not a public fact-checking or verification service. Its outputs are working material for member organisations, and responsibility for anything published stays with the organisation that publishes it.
Governed by the ADAFP AI Ethics Charter
The ADAFP Board adopted the AI Ethics Charter in August 2026. It sets how the tools are built and used.
- Assessments, not verdicts
- Analytical tools report how well a claim is supported and show their sources. They do not issue true or false rulings.
- People stay responsible
- AI output is a draft. A person checks it, and the organisation that uses it is accountable for it.
- Clear data responsibility
- ADAFP is the data controller, and personal information is handled in line with applicable data protection law, including South Africa's POPIA.
- Corrections are welcome
- Anyone who finds an error or wants to raise a complaint can write to office@adafp.org, and it will be reviewed.
Using AI well
A few habits make AI useful and keep organisations out of trouble.
- Check facts, figures and quotations against the original source before publishing.
- Do not paste membership lists, passwords or other sensitive personal information into any AI tool.
- On anything about elections, rely on your national electoral commission for official information.
- Say when a published text was prepared with the help of AI, where that matters to your readers.
Part of the ADAFP Digital Laboratory
The Digital Laboratory brings together the alliance's technology work for democracy.
Access for member organisations
The AI Unit is available to ADAFP member organisations and the people who work for them. An organisation requests access for its team by writing to the Secretariat.
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