2026-10-02T10:00:46.603Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
今年登陆电视荧屏的极具冲击力的政治攻击广告，展现了一名参议院候选人驾驶载有非法移民的巴士前往投票站、一名州长候选人抓起装满现金的袋子，以及一名共和党国会议员与两名民主党同事手牵手，旁白将其描述为“三人亲密关系”的场景。
这些极具争议的场景从未发生过——这些广告均由人工智能生成。
根据CNN对广告数据的分析，今年1月至9月中旬，政治竞选团队和相关团体在披露使用人工智能生成或修改过的图像的电视广告上的支出已超过1600万美元。
广告反馈
但目前仅有约一半的州要求竞选团队在政治广告中披露人工智能的使用情况，而至少有3800万美元的广告未披露使用人工智能，但其画面明显带有人工智能生成的痕迹。
这些广告涉及可能影响国会权力平衡的关键中期选举竞选活动，例如共和党竞选团队和团体投放的广告：乔治亚州参议员乔恩·奥索夫接受整容改造，以及得克萨斯州参议院候选人詹姆斯·塔莱里科亵渎圣经。奥索夫的广告未提及任何人工智能使用情况的披露，而塔莱里科的广告则附有一行小字声明，称“部分视频内容”由人工智能创建。
大量包含逼真画面的广告引发了立法者和选民的警惕，他们担心自己被歪曲形象和误导。目前，人工智能广告这一新领域已经扰乱了政治竞选活动，部分广告在收到候选人投诉后被撤下，还有一名得克萨斯州候选人向警方报案，称一段描绘她支持一系列新税收的视频违反了州法律。
人工智能在竞选广告中的使用正值公众对这项基础技术感到不安，以及政策制定者围绕如何以及是否采取额外措施加以监管展开激烈辩论之际。CNN的一项最新民调显示，约八成美国人对人工智能的快速发展持负面看法。
CNN的分析发现，共和党在政治广告中使用人工智能的速度快于民主党对手。在披露使用人工智能的广告支出中，约96%来自共和党竞选团队或相关团体。
CNN发现了数起疑似规避州披露法规的广告案例。在密歇根州，一个与得克萨斯州共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹有关联的政治行动委员会（PAC）投放了一则广告，展示参议院候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德对着“去死吧美国”和“庆祝9·11”的信息大笑，并与左翼网红哈桑·皮克等人共舞。
广告的最后几秒附有一行极小字体的披露声明，并伴有一句旁白，承认该广告“全部或部分使用了人工智能创建”——但密歇根州的一项法律要求，旨在影响选举的“具有实质性欺骗性”的广告，必须在视频“全程”展示“清晰可见、便于观众阅读”的披露信息。
埃尔-赛义德竞选团队的发言人科尔·沃兹尼亚克在给CNN的声明中表示，共和党“ desperation 到 resort 到使用充满谎言和恶意攻击的廉价人工智能广告”。
政治广告中对人工智能的使用范围广泛，从相对轻微的修改（如为旧家庭照片添加动画效果）到荒诞的攻击内容，例如一则将佛罗里达州州长候选人的头像放在鱼身上的广告，或是另一则展示唐纳德·特朗普总统与一张国会议员面孔的肉饼一起煎制的广告。https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/7b4d136a-21a0-42c8-aeef-80ab6b699862.mp4
尽管部分最离谱的广告明显是人工智能生成的，但专家们担心那些不那么容易辨认的案例。
华盛顿州立大学政治学家、研究政治广告中人工智能使用情况的卫斯理安媒体项目联合主任特拉维斯·里德特表示，危险在于“人们正在看到从未发生过的事情，看到政客们说他们实际上从未说过的话”。
“即使广告上有声明称内容是合成生成的，人们往往还是会‘眼见为实’，”他说。
为追踪人工智能政治广告的支出增长情况，CNN分析了由广告追踪服务机构AdImpact收集的今年播出的数千条广告。记者使用人工智能提取每条广告屏幕上显示的所有文字，然后手动审查那些带有相关披露声明的广告。分析结果显示，有数十条广告向观众披露了其包含人工智能生成、增强或修改的内容。
记者们还审查并识别了数十条未披露使用人工智能，但画面明显带有人工智能生成痕迹的广告。其中部分广告由卫斯理安媒体项目的研究人员标记。当无法确定广告使用的是人工智能还是传统图形特效技术时，记者们会将此类广告排除在分析之外。
分析发现，明确使用人工智能的广播电视政治广告支出从1月份的不到2.5万美元，增长至仅9月上半月的超过1000万美元。
由于人工智能的使用并不总是显而易见，CNN的分析很可能遗漏了一些未披露使用人工智能的广告。
美国顶级共和党超级政治行动委员会“参议院领导基金”上月投放了一则针对奥索夫的攻击广告，使用人工智能图像嘲笑他在头发和化妆上的竞选开支。
“在头发和化妆上花费数千美元，真是个虚伪的家伙，”广告中的一名男子说道，画面中奥索夫正在接受吹干头发、眼部敷黄瓜和修指甲等美容护理。
这位佐治亚州民主党人在广告播出后不久的新闻发布会上要求撤下该广告，称“看到这些深度伪造视频被用于捏造政治广告，令人深感不安”。参议院领导基金的发言人表示，奥索夫的政绩“令人深感不安”。
得克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿上月投放的另一则广告显示，他的民主党对手、美国参议院候选人塔莱里科在圣经上涂鸦，并发表了关于宗教和性别的言论。
广告中引用了塔莱里科多年来发表的言论，但脱离了原语境——不过这些言论并非由真实的塔莱里科说出，而是由人工智能生成的他的声音。
“肯·帕克斯顿和他在华盛顿的亿万富翁支持者知道，他们无法依靠事实赢得这场竞选——所以他们唯一的办法就是用人工智能深度伪造视频，把话塞进詹姆斯的嘴里，试图欺骗得克萨斯州民众，”塔莱里科的发言人JT·恩尼斯在一份声明中说道。
帕克斯顿的竞选团队驳斥了这些批评。
“我们的团队非常谨慎地确保广告的每一部分都有恰当的来源和引用，”帕克斯顿的发言人麦迪逊·瑟西在声明中说道。“我们将继续利用一切可用手段，向得克萨斯州民众展示詹姆斯·塔莱里科的激进政绩。”
人工智能广告也成为今年早些时候肯塔基州第4国会选区罢免共和党众议员托马斯·马西的激烈竞选活动中的一个焦点。
一个反对马西的外部团体投放了一则广告，展示人工智能生成的马西与众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科特兹和伊尔汗·奥马尔手牵手的画面——这两位进步派民主党人被保守派妖魔化，但他们与马西在反对美国对以色列军事援助问题上立场一致。
广告展示了看似狗仔队拍摄的三人共进晚餐的照片，以及他们入住酒店的监控录像，旁白宣称马西“与左翼‘小队’勾结，背叛美国优先运动”。广告开头几秒钟出现了一行小字声明：“这则讽刺性广告由人工智能创建。”
马西在今年早些时候的初选中落败后，暗示这则广告可能是他落败的原因之一。“许多年长的选民投票反对我，因为他们以为我和奥卡西奥-科特兹以及奥马尔约会了，”这位国会议员在X平台上关于这则广告的帖子中写道。“我跟奥卡西奥-科特兹说过，我绝不会和奥马尔那样！”他开玩笑道。
除了更具争议的案例外，许多候选人还开始使用人工智能工具简单且低成本地制作争议性较低的竞选内容。佐治亚州州长共和党提名候选人里克·杰克逊今年已在包含人工智能动画家庭照片和演绎其艰苦童年经历的广告上花费了数百万美元，使其成为CNN认定的人工智能广告支出最高的竞选团队。（尽管他的部分广告披露了人工智能的使用，但其他广告并未披露——佐治亚州并未要求此类披露。）
研究选举中人工智能使用情况的斯坦福大学法学教授纳撒尼尔·佩西里表示，深度伪造人工智能广告最具影响力的场合可能并非在知名的全州性竞选活动中，而是在选票信息有限的下级选举中，选民可能不会花时间研究候选人或核实他们看到的广告内容。
“从政治广告诞生之初，就有人使用Photoshop和其他手段篡改图像、散布谎言，”佩西里说道。“但逼真的视频会让人们更相信内容，情感感染力也更强。”
根据美国全国州议会会议（NCSL）的统计，至少有31个州通过了规范政治广告中人工智能内容和深度伪造技术的法律，从 outright 禁令到披露要求不等。其中大多数法律是在过去三年中签署的，因为人工智能的使用变得更加普遍。
大多数州要求对政治广告中的人工智能内容或深度伪造技术进行某种形式的披露，而马里兰州、明尼苏达州和得克萨斯州三个州则禁止部分深度伪造广告。明尼苏达州和得克萨斯州的禁令仅适用于选举前的特定时间段。
“今年是一个试验案例，用以检验这些法律是否有效、是否得到执行，以及人工智能是否真的会成为选举中的主要因素，”美国全国州议会会议选举项目主任凯蒂·欧文斯·哈布勒说道。
近几个月来，在中期选举中播出的至少有几则人工智能广告似乎违反了这些法律。
在田纳西州，尽管该州在7月通过了一项要求在政治深度伪造广告中披露信息的法律，但仍有多个竞选团队遭到了人工智能攻击广告的冲击。
该法律通过几周后，一个反对共和党州长候选人玛莎·布莱克本的黑暗资金团体投放了一则未披露使用人工智能的广告，展示布莱克本与制药说客厮混，称她为“制药女王”，并将她与该州的阿片类药物死亡事件联系起来。布莱克本的竞选团队向该团体发送了停止侵权函，称该广告虚假且诽谤，并成功说服多家电视台撤下了该广告。
在该州第6国会选区，两名竞争的共和党候选人也互相投放了带有人工智能的攻击性广告。约翰尼·加勒特投放了一则广告，展示一名佩戴其竞争对手范·希勒里名牌的男子从迈克尔·布隆伯格手中接过一叠现金，而希勒里的竞选团队则回击投放了一则广告，展示加勒特在办公室睡觉并参加骄傲游行。
两个竞选团队都告诉当地媒体，他们认为新的深度伪造法律不适用于联邦公职候选人。
与此同时在密歇根州，埃尔-赛义德的竞选团队严厉批评了这则人工智能制作的广告，该广告试图将候选人与穆斯林兄弟会和左翼Twitch主播皮克紧密联系在一起。
制作这则广告的超级政治行动委员会“前线行动”的一名发言人捍卫了该广告。“广告的内容基于埃尔-赛义德本人的公开言论以及有关他和与他的竞选活动相关或支持他的个人的已报道记录，”该PAC的发言人在一份声明中说道。
争议还包括：哪项法律适用于这则广告。
密歇根州的一项法律要求在政治广告中使用人工智能时，需有三秒钟的旁白说明，并附带四秒钟的书面披露。但另一项管辖“具有实质性欺骗性媒体”的选举法也要求，如果视频“虚假描述了被描绘的个人”、旨在损害候选人的选举机会，且在选举前90天内传播，则必须在视频全程披露。此外，投放广告的个人必须知道该广告虚假描述了被描绘的人物。该PAC的发言人表示，该组织认为第一项法律适用于其广告，并声称该广告符合规定。
禁止传播欺骗性人工智能生成广告或要求在广告中披露人工智能使用情况的努力在国会和联邦选举委员会均未取得进展，而联邦选举委员会目前也缺乏运作所需的法定人数。
法律专家表示，对政治言论进行监管存在很高的障碍，尤其是当广告反映的是目标候选人实际说过的话时。
左翼消费者权益倡导组织“公众公民”的州人工智能治理和技术主任伊拉娜·贝勒表示，通常情况下，可被解读为讽刺或 parody 的人工智能生成广告可免于州披露要求。该组织一直在倡导在联邦和州层面进行监管。
夏威夷和加利福尼亚州的联邦法官以违反第一修正案为由，裁定这两个州的部分选举深度伪造法律违宪。
但即便没有联邦层面的行动，越来越多的州级监管似乎有助于限制贝勒所说的“真正具有欺骗性、外观逼真的商业广告的噩梦场景”——即“公众看到某件事，并认为候选人积极参与了某种道德上的错误或丑闻，从而影响公众舆论”。
撇开争议不谈，人工智能在很大程度上降低了制作政治广告的门槛。
政治广告商和观察人士表示，广告商一直在使用人工智能简化制作流程，通过测试人工智能版本的广告来节省资金和时间，这些广告在获得批准后即可投入实际制作。
参议院多数党PAC——一个主要的民主党团体——的传播总监劳伦·弗伦奇表示，尽管一些政治竞选团队过去一直在用广告散布谎言，但现在他们“使用了以前没有的工具来做这件事”。她批评针对塔莱里科和奥索夫的广告误导了选民。
“我们仍然需要接受并使用这项技术，”她在谈到这项新技术时说道。“但我们可以在使用它的同时保持道德，讲真话。”
与此同时，其他投放包含对手真实视频的广告的竞选团队则特意明确声明，这些视频并非由人工智能生成——以帮助观众辨别真伪。
“我要给你们看一段视频，没有人工智能，没有特效，只有迈克尔·沃特利的原话，”民主党参议院候选人罗伊·库珀在今年早些时候播出的一则攻击广告的开头说道。
斯坦福大学教授佩西里表示，选民最终可能会对人工智能攻击广告习以为常，以至于他们甚至会对真实视频产生怀疑。
“选民将越来越难以分辨某件事是真是假，”他说。“这对民主来说是更大的危害。”
CNN的杰伊·布朗为本报告做出了贡献。
AI blurs lines in campaign ads: ‘People are seeing things that didn’t happen’
2026-10-02T10:00:46.603Z / CNN
Dramatic political attack ads hitting the airwaves this year have shown a Senate candidate driving a bus of undocumented immigrants to a polling place, a governor hopeful grabbing bags stuffed full of cash, and a Republican congressman holding hands with two of his Democratic colleagues in what a narrator described as a “throuple.”
None of those compromising situations ever happened — the ads were all generated with artificial intelligence.
From January through mid-September, political campaigns and groups had spent more than $16 million on TV ads that disclosed using AI-generated or manipulated images, according to a CNN analysis of ad data.
Ad Feedback
But only about half of states require campaigns to disclose AI use in political ads — and at least $38 million has been spent on ads that strongly appear to include AI imagery despite featuring no disclosure.
That includes ads in key midterm races that could sway the balance of power in Congress, such as ads from GOP campaigns and groups showing Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff getting a makeover and Texas Senate candidate James Talarico defacing a Bible. The Ossoff ad didn’t have any disclosure about AI use, while the Talarico ad featured a small disclosure saying that “certain video content” was created with AI.
The flood of ads containing lifelike imagery has sparked alarms among lawmakers and voters alike, fearful of being misrepresented and misinformed. Already, the new frontier of AI ads has roiled political campaigns, with some ads being taken off air after complaints by candidates, and a Texas candidate filing a police report alleging that a video depicting her endorsing a list of new taxes violated state law.
AI’s use in campaign commercials comes amid public unease with the underlying technology and growing debate among policymakers over how, and whether, to take additional steps to rein it in. A new CNN poll found that about eight in 10 Americans express negative views about the rapid pace of AI development.
CNN’s analysis found that Republicans have been quicker to adopt AI in political ads than their Democratic opponents. About 96% of the spending on ads that disclosed AI use came from GOP campaigns or groups.
CNN found a handful of ads that appear to skirt state laws about disclosures. In Michigan, a PAC linked to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, aired an ad showing Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed laughing at messages saying “Death to America” and “Celebrate 9/11,” and dancing with the left-wing influencer Hasan Piker and other figures.
The final seconds of the ad included a disclosure in tiny text and a spoken line acknowledging it was “created in whole or in part with the use of artificial intelligence” — but one Michigan law requires “materially deceptive” ads that aim to influence elections to feature a disclosure “throughout the entirety of the video” that is “clearly visible to and readable by an observer.”
In a statement to CNN, El-Sayed campaign spokesman Cole Wozniak said Republicans “are so desperate that they are resorting to cheap AI generated ads filled with falsehoods and bad faith attacks.”
The use of AI in political ads ranges from relatively minor changes like animating old family photos to surreal attacks, like one ad that put a Florida governor candidate’s talking head on the body of a fish or another that showed President Donald Trump frying a patty with a congressman’s face on it. https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/7b4d136a-21a0-42c8-aeef-80ab6b699862.mp4
While some of the most outlandish ads are obviously AI-generated, experts are worried about less clear cases.
The danger is that “people are seeing things that didn’t happen, seeing politicians say things they actually didn’t say,” said Travis Ridout, a political scientist at Washington State University and one of the co-directors of the Wesleyan Media Project, which has studied AI use in political ads.
“Even if there’s a disclaimer on there that says this was synthetically generated, oftentimes seeing is believing,” he said.
To track the growth in spending in AI political ads, CNN analyzed thousands of ads that aired this year and were collected by the tracking service AdImpact. Reporters used AI to extract all text shown on screen in each ad and then manually reviewed those with relevant disclosures. The analysis revealed dozens of ads that disclosed to viewers that they included AI-generated, enhanced or manipulated content.
Reporters also reviewed and identified several dozen additional ads that did not disclose using AI but strongly appear to feature AI-generated imagery. Some of those ads were flagged by researchers at the Wesleyan Media Project. Reporters excluded some ads when it was unclear whether they used AI or more traditional graphic effects technology.
The analysis found that spending on broadcast TV political ads that clearly featured AI grew from less than $25,000 in January to more than $10 million in the first half of September alone.
It’s likely that CNN’s analysis missed some ads that used AI without disclosing it, because the use of the technology is not always obvious.
A leading Republican super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, produced an attack ad last month targeting Ossoff that uses AI imagery to mock his campaign spending on hair and makeup.
“Thousands on hair and makeup. What a phony,” claims an individual in the ad, which depicts Ossoff receiving cosmetic treatments including a blow dry, eye cucumbers and nail filing.
The Georgia Democrat called for the ad to be taken down at a press conference shortly after it was launched, saying it was “deeply troubling to see these deepfake videos used to fabricate political advertising.” An SLF spokesman said it was Ossoff’s record that was “deeply troubling.”
Another ad launched last month by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton shows Talarico, his Democratic opponent for US Senate, drawing in a Bible and making statements about religion and gender.
The ad features quotes that Talarico said over the years without context — yet they’re spoken not by the actual Talarico, but an AI-generated version of him.
“Ken Paxton and his billionaire backers in DC know they can’t rely on facts to win this race — so their only answer is to literally put words in James’ mouth with AI deepfake videos to try and fool Texans,” Talarico spokesperson JT Ennis said in a statement.
Paxton’s campaign rejected the criticism.
“Our team was diligent in ensuring every piece of the ad was properly sourced and cited,” Paxton spokesperson Madison Cercy said in a statement. “We intend to continue to use all available means to put James Talarico’s radical record in front of Texans.”
AI advertising was also a flashpoint in the contentious race to oust GOP Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District earlier this year.
One of the outside groups opposing Massie ran ads that featured AI-generated imagery of the congressman walking hand-in-hand with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, progressive Democrats vilified by conservatives, but who aligned with Massie on opposition to US military aid for Israel.
The ad showed what appeared to be paparazzi photos of the trio dining together, and security footage of them checking into a hotel, as a narrator declared that Massie was “cheating with the squad on the America First movement.” A small text disclosure shown during the ad’s first seconds stated that “this satirical ad was created with artificial intelligence.”
After he lost his primary earlier this year, Massie suggested the ad could have contributed to his defeat. “Many older people voted against me because they believed I dated AOC and Omar,” the congressman wrote about the ad in a post on X. “I told AOC I would never do that with Omar!” he joked.
Beyond the more contentious examples, many candidates have also turned to AI tools to simply and cheaply produce less controversial campaign content. Rick Jackson, the GOP nominee for Georgia governor, has spent millions this year on ads that include AI animations of family photos and dramatizations of his hardscrabble childhood, making his campaign the top spender on AI ads identified by CNN. (While some of his ads have disclosed using AI, others have not — disclosures are not required in Georgia.)
Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford law professor who studies the use of AI in elections, said that deepfake AI ads could end up having the most impact not in prominent statewide races but down-ballot, low-information contests where voters might not take the time to study candidates or fact-check ads they see.
“We’ve had Photoshop and attempts to manipulate imagery and lies that politicians have told since the beginning of time,” Persily said. “There’s something about realistic video that makes it more believable to people and has a greater emotional appeal.”
At least 31 states have passed laws regulating the use of AI content and deepfakes in political advertising, ranging from outright prohibitions to disclosure requirements, according to a tally by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Most of those laws were signed in the last three years, as AI use became more prevalent.
Most of the states require some sort of disclosure of AI content or deepfakes in political ads, while three states — Maryland, Minnesota and Texas — have banned some deepfake ads. Minnesota’s and Texas’ prohibitions only apply in specific periods leading up to elections.
“This year is a test case to see if those laws are being effective, are they being enforced, whether AI really becomes a major factor in elections,” said Katy Owens Hubler, the director of the NCSL’s elections program.
At least a few of the AI-powered ads that have aired in midterm races in recent months appear to violate those laws.
In Tennessee, several campaigns have been hit with AI attack ads, even after the state passed a law requiring disclosure in deepfake political ads in July.
Just weeks after that law passed, a dark money group opposing GOP governor candidate Marsha Blackburn aired an ad using AI without disclosure showing her cavorting with pharma lobbyists, tarring her as “Queen Mama Pharma” and tying her to opioid deaths in the state. Blackburn’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to the group calling the ad false and defamatory and successfully got several TV stations to take the ad off the air.
In the state’s 6th Congressional District, two competing Republican candidates also attacked each other with dueling AI-powered ads. Johnny Garrett aired an ad showing someone with the nametag of his rival, Van Hilleary, receiving a stack of money from Michael Bloomberg, while Hilleary’s campaign hit back with an ad showing Garrett sleeping in office and attending a pride parade.
Both campaigns told local media that they believed the new deepfake law didn’t apply to candidates for federal office.
In Michigan, meanwhile, El-Sayed’s campaign has sharply criticized the AI-made ad, which seeks to closely link the candidate to the Muslim Brotherhood and Piker, a left-wing Twitch streamer.
A spokesperson for The Front Line Action, the super PAC behind the ad, defended the spot. “The substance of the ad is grounded in El-Sayed’s own public statements and documented reporting and records concerning him and individuals associated with or supportive of his campaign,” the PAC spokesperson said in a statement.
Also disputed: Which statute applies to the ad.
One Michigan law requires a three-second voiceover acknowledging AI’s use in political commercials and a four-second written disclosure. A second election law, governing “materially deceptive media,” however, also requires disclosure throughout a video if it “falsely represents a depicted individual,” intends to harm a candidate’s electoral chances and is distributed within 90 days of an election. Additionally, the person distributing the ad has to know that it falsely represents the person depicted. A PAC spokesperson said the group views the first law as governing its ad and said the commercial is in compliance.
Efforts to prohibit the distribution of deceptive AI-generated ads or mandate disclosures of AI use in advertising have failed to gain traction in Congress or with the Federal Election Commission, which currently lacks a quorum to operate anyway.
And legal experts say there are high hurdles to regulating political speech, particularly when ads reflect words that the targeted candidates actually uttered.
Generally, AI-generated ads that can be interpreted as satire or parody are exempt from the state disclosure requirements, said Ilana Beller, director of state AI governance and technology at Public Citizen, the left-leaning consumer advocacy group. The organization has advocated for regulation at the federal and state level.
Federal judges in Hawaii and California found parts of election deepfake laws in those states unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.
But even without federal action, the growing number of state regulations seems to have helped limit what Beller called the “nightmare scenario” of truly deceptive, realistic-looking commercials in which “the public sees a thing and believes that the candidate actively participated in something morally wrong or scandalous in some way that would sway public opinion.”
Controversies aside, AI has had the broad effect of lowering the barrier to entry to political ad-making.
Political advertisers and observers said that ad-makers have been turning to AI to streamline their process, saving money and time by testing AI versions of ads that, if approved, go into real production.
Lauren French, the communications director of Senate Majority PAC, a leading Democratic group, said that while some political campaigns have always used ads to promote lies, they’re now “doing it with tools that were previously not available.” She criticized the ads attacking Talarico and Ossoff as misleading voters.
“We still need to embrace it and use it,” she said of the new technology. “But we can use it and be ethical, tell the truth.”
Meanwhile, other campaigns airing ads featuring genuine videos of their opponents have taken the time to explicitly declare that they aren’t generated by AI — in an attempt to help viewers cut through the slop.
“I’m going to show you something, no AI, no special effects, just Michael Whatley in his own words,” Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper declared at the beginning of one attack ad aired earlier this year.
Persily, the Stanford professor, said voters could eventually get so used to AI attacks that they would grow to doubt even real videos.
“It is going to be increasingly difficult for voters to know whether something is true or not,” he said. “That’s the greater harm to democracy.”
CNN’s Jay Brown contributed to this report.