AI Deepfakes Increasingly Used in U.S. Election Campaigns
Artificial intelligence-generated clips and images are becoming widespread in American political campaign ads, creating fictitious situations and blurring the lines between truth and fiction. This unregulated practice is redefining campaign norms, with some campaigns opting for voluntary disclosure while others do not. Democrats reportedly seek to mandate disclosure if they gain control of Congress in November.
Campaign ads featuring AI-generated clips and images are now frequently observed in U.S. political elections. These ads often depict candidates in various fictitious scenarios.
The use of AI in political advertising is largely unregulated, impacting the norms of political campaigns by blurring the distinction between factual content and fabricated imagery. While some campaigns choose to disclose their use of AI, such disclosure is not currently required. Democrats have expressed an interest in implementing mandatory disclosure requirements if they secure control of Congress in November.
Recent examples of AI use include an attack ad by the President Trump-aligned group Citizens for Sanity against Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, which depicted him in a dress singing about transgender children. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) also used AI to show Talarico reciting past social media posts; while the posts were real, Talarico's depiction reading them was AI-generated. Other Texas politicians, including Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, and Democrat Jasmine Crockett, have utilized AI in their primary campaigns. Crockett specifically used AI to visually inflate crowd sizes in an ad and shared an AI-generated video of herself, Donald Trump, and others as babies on social media.
The Kentucky 4th district GOP primary also saw extensive AI deployment by both sides. This included a "throuple" ad featuring deepfakes of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) with Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Pro-Massie ads used AI to depict an elephant with Trump-like hair and a MAGA cap, and Massie's challenger, Ed Gallrein, abandoning Trump in a foxhole.
In Georgia, gubernatorial candidate Brad Raffensperger employed AI in multiple ads showing his GOP primary opponents engaging in activities like shooting guns and fighting with pugil sticks. Another Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Burt Jones, released an entirely AI-generated ad depicting his GOP primary runoff opponent, Rick Jackson, shoveling money into a furnace and inflating a hot air balloon with his breath.
AI use is not exclusive to Republican campaigns. In New York City, then-Democrat-turned-independent Andrew Cuomo utilized AI in a mayoral election ad that portrayed him performing various jobs, such as subway conductor, stockbroker, stagehand, and window washer. In Maryland's 5th congressional district, an ad from Democrat Harry Dunn featured an AI-generated shot of men in suits marked "Crypto" and "AIPAC" tossing golden basketballs in a carnival game.
According to Axios, this proliferation of AI deepfakes is reshaping the landscape of American elections.
