Even with the use of AI disclosed in ads, experts question the ethics of using the technology in campaigns designed to reach voters.
Candidates for New Jersey governor on both sides of the aisle are pushing the envelope with the use of artificial intelligence in their political ads. U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat, and former radio show host Bill Spadea, a Republican, are each breaking new ground with AI in their ads. Gottheimer’s campaign made an AI-generated version of the candidate fighting President in a boxing ring. Spadea’s campaign used AI to generate a voice recording verbalizing statements that had been previously attributed to his primary opponent Jack Ciattarelli in print. The use of AI is disclosed in both ads, but experts question the ethics of using the technology and how effective it is at getting their message across to voters.
Gottheimer in the boxing rink: Which elements are real?
Different iterations of Gottheimer as a boxer can be seen in his ad called “Born Fighter,“ like Gottheimer as a young boy wearing boxing gloves and a muscular Gottheimer sparring with President Donald Trump in a boxing ring. In reality, Gottheimer is not a professional boxer. (He said he has, however, “done a bunch of kickboxing.”)
Gottheimer also has not posed wearing a boxing glove next to former Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as the ad also shows. But another photo in the ad of the lawmaker (sans boxing glove) with Clinton, whom he worked for earlier in his political career, is genuine, according to his campaign.
Gottheimer said his campaign made the ad because he wants to “use every tool in the tool kit.”
“I want to make it clear I’m not afraid to get in the ring with this guy and go round after round until we win,” he said in an interview. “… And this was just a creative way to convey that point.”
A small disclaimer says “AI generated imagery” in the beginning of the ad, and the video ends by displaying the phrase: “AI generated. Tax cuts are real.” The ad, which also features Gottheimer speaking to the camera, does not disclose which parts were made with AI and which parts were not.
The ad has aired in New York and Philadelphia broadcast and streaming markets.
Gottheimer said the use of AI in the ad is “very, very clear,” and experts agree, at least in part.
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Jim Samuel, the executive director of the Informatics Program at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, said that while Gottheimer’s ad makes for a good laugh, he does not believe it is an effective tool to persuade voters.
“There are a lot of people who are more than happy to use AI for entertainment,” Samuel said. “But when it comes to decision making, a lot of people go back to fundamental information based, fact-based decision making.”
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Samuel said he takes issue with the method because of how the tone could be construed.
“If he actually said it and there’s a recording, then play the recording. If he said it and it was only documented in text, then I think it is wrong,” Samuel said. “How a thing is said is as important as what was said.”
There is no comprehensive set of AI regulations in the U.S., and Republicans in Congress have tried to include a provision banning state-level AI regulations in a tax bill in the works. Even in Europe, which has more AI regulations, Samuel said, “there is nothing that people with lawyers cannot manage.”
“AI regulation is, I think, very, very much the same as a story of a half-baked cake,” Samuel said. “We can’t say that there’s no cake, and yet it’s half-baked, so no one can eat it. So there’s no benefit to the people.”