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Artificial Intelligence Used in Paid Political Advertising and Foreign Disinformation
What happened
According to reporting, at least 220 political advertisements generated or enhanced with artificial intelligence have circulated before the midterm elections, at a cost of almost $137 million. Multiple outlets also reported that Russia, and in some cases Iran and China, are using AI tools in disinformation campaigns targeting U.S. voters, including fake videos of celebrities. This marks the first major U.S. election cycle where AI is integrated into social media platforms.
Side by side
Outlets focus primarily on domestic campaign use of AI, noting that "mostly Republican" candidates used AI-generated ads and that "Republicans have used A.I.-generated content more often than Democrats." They emphasize warnings about "deepfakes" and describe AI as producing "reality-bending" ads while highlighting that "election laws haven't kept pace."
- NBCDeciding with fake images: More candidates are using AI in political ads to get your voteNBC News · Lean Left
- NYTA.I. and Its Dangers Are Embedded In the Midterm ElectionsThe New York Times · Lean Left
- NYTA.I. Election Videos Are Flooding Brazil. Could They Sway the Vote?The New York Times · Lean Left
- AXThe AI attack-ad nightmare is coming trueAxios · Lean Left
- NYTRussia Appears to Step Up Efforts to Influence U.S. VotersThe New York Times · Lean Left
- NYT$137 Million in A.I.-Generated Ads Flood the MidtermsThe New York Times · Lean Left
Coverage emphasizes foreign disinformation operations, particularly describing "Russian Bots" and "an Army of Bots" that "manipulate view counts" and create an "illusion of popularity." Outlets report that "Russia, Iran and China are using artificial intelligence tools to turbocharge disinformation efforts."
- BLMRussia Is Using an Army of Bots to Push Fake US Election VideosBloomberg · Center
- BLMRussian Bots Manipulate View Counts on Fake Videos Ahead of US MidtermsBloomberg · Center
- BLMRussia, Iran, China Use AI to Boost Disinformation Before US MidtermsBloomberg · Center
Not enough from this side yet to say how it covered the story — which is the blind spot above.
- NMXRussia Steps Up Online Campaign to Sow Midterm Election ChaosNewsmax · Right · link via Google News
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