South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette appears distressed in a dark room as she takes a polygraph test that ends with the lie detector burning. Although the video clarifies that the “dramatizations” of this political ad are generated by artificial intelligence, some voters still asked him if what they saw was real, Evette told Noticias Telemundo.
At first, Evette said she thought, “This is ridiculous, isn’t it? No one would believe that?” Later, as she traveled the state during her campaign to become a Republican gubernatorial candidate — a race she lost in June to Attorney General Alan Wilson — she said she encountered voters who were confused about the video’s veracity.
“During the election, people were asking me, ‘Oh my God, did they really give you a lie detector test?’ “, said Evette. She then had to explain to them that this never happened and was a fake AI-generated ad.
“So you almost think it’s a joke and you kind of laugh about it, until you realize there’s a group of people who can’t tell the difference,” she said, “and then you start to wonder if maybe what they’re saying is true.”
Evette is not the only one whose image has been manipulated in the run-up to the midterm elections. The Wesleyan Media Project, a group of experts that tracks political propaganda in campaigns, has identified at least 220 artificial intelligence-produced or artificially enhanced ads by candidates or political action committees during this election cycle. They cost just under $137 million.
This is a significant jump in the use of this technology compared to 2024, when investment in AI was less than $50,000 during the presidential election. As of May this year, the money spent on these AI ads already amounted to $20 million.
“We really saw growth in AI ads over the summer,” Travis Ridout, a professor at Washington State University and one of the project’s directors, told Noticias Telemundo. “Many of them were tied to hotly contested primary races.”
South Carolina’s lieutenant governor has seen two videos of her generated by artificial intelligence, or deepfakes., but she also shared one that falsely portrayed her opponent, Alan Wilson, rejecting a call from President Donald Trump. According to Evette, her campaign used artificial intelligence after the broadcast of the advertisements featuring her. “But we said it: ‘This ad is generated by AI,’” she said.
The videos targeting Evette were allegedly paid for by a PAC; the one released against his opponent was financed by the lieutenant governor’s campaign. A request for comment sent to Wilson was not immediately returned.
In response to a question from Noticias Telemundo on social networks, almost 40 people said they had seen political advertisements generated by artificial intelligence. Some have admitted to having difficulty telling them apart.
“And it could be misleading; in that case, voters could base their decisions on lies,” Ridout said. “That, I think, is what is most worrying from a democratic point of view.”
In the absence of a federal law regulating them, the responsibility falls to local governments, said Ridout, who estimates that about 30 states have some type of rule or requirement regarding AI in political campaigns.
Of the 220 ads analyzed by the Wesleyan Media Project, only 27% revealed that they used artificial intelligence tools.
The possibilities “are endless”
Candidates with small campaign budgets are relying on artificial intelligence to compete with their rivals, Ridout suggested.
“I think it’s here to stay. I don’t know if it’s going to go away,” Evette said. Campaigns “are extremely expensive,” she noted, and AI reduces many recording and editing costs.
These tools could also “unlock” more creativity in political advertising, Ridout said, “which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”
He said the possibilities are virtually endless and include satire. Among the ads he analyzed, he saw candidates emerging from a swamp, boxing against Trump or appearing alongside physicist Albert Einstein, who died in 1955.
“I worry about the lasting impact of these images, even though people know it may not be true,” Ridout said. He noted that these images could stick in their minds when they vote, or even generate waves of misinformation that trigger violence.
AI can “redefine” modern political campaigns, the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit institute whose experts have analyzed the technology’s potential impact on democracy, said in an article.
Mekela Panditharatne, legal counsel and director of the center’s elections and government program, said that without disclosure, “the use of generative AI in political ads has the potential to distort perceptions of candidates, presenting candidates in a flattering light or their opponents in a negative light.”
During the Minnesota primary, a deepfake circulated showing Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, smiling amid mountains of cash.
A spokesperson for his office said that while it didn’t stop them from winning the primary, there were concerns about the impact of the AI-generated video. “There is already too much distrust in our politics, and voters deserve to know what is real and what is not,” the spokesperson said.
Minnesota is one of the states with AI regulations; in 2023, its legislature passed with bipartisan support a ban on its use to influence elections. The AI ad targeting Flanagan sparked debate over whether it was illegal or protected under the First Amendment.
Artificial intelligence “should never be used to manipulate voters,” Flanagan’s spokesperson said.
A question of transparency
At least two federal bills aimed at regulating AI in politics are awaiting discussion and approval by lawmakers.
One seeks to ensure that advertisements include visible notices indicating that artificial intelligence tools have been used; the other attempts to ban this technology “to materially generate deceptive content falsely portraying federal candidates in political advertisements intended to influence federal elections.
Although local regulations exist, some applicants still violate them, according to Panditharatne of the Brennan Center.
“I think these laws have not had as strong a deterrent effect as we would like,” she said, emphasizing the need for a universal federal standard.
When crafting law, lawmakers consider the First Amendment, which protects, among other rights, freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
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