Synthetic data raises deeper questions. If responses are generated rather than collected, what is really being measured? And how should such data be interpreted?
Trust is another major issue. Polling is already subject to political scrutiny and regulation. The introduction of AI – especially in generating data – could intensify concerns. Jeanbart expects that countries like France may eventually prohibit the publication of polls based on synthetic data.
Even advocates of AI recognise its limits. “The goal is end-to-end automation, but today it would be unsafe and socially unacceptable to remove humans entirely,” says Le Brun. Human oversight remains essential for validating results and taking responsibility.
For now, the most likely future is a hybrid one. AI will continue to expand the scope of polling, enabling large-scale conversational surveys, integrating social media data and delivering faster insights. Techniques like digital twins and synthetic data may find niche uses, particularly in market research.
But in political polling, the boundary between augmenting human data and simulating it is likely to remain crucial. Companies like Naratis are betting that the real transformation lies not in replacing respondents, but in changing how they are heard – turning surveys into conversations, and conversations into data at unprecedented scale.
Whether this shift restores trust in polling or further erodes it will depend less on the technology itself than on how it is used, explained and regulated. What is clear is that economic pressures will continue to push the industry toward greater automation.