Jessica Bichler is running for North Carolina state Senate this fall. The district where she's campaigning, in and around Wilmington, is deep purple, and she knew it was going to be a tough fight. But even she was surprised when she appeared in an ad from her opponent, Republican incumbent state Sen.
The ad showed an AI-generated Bichler contorting her body into bizarre shapes, while making claims about her stances on policing and healthcare. "I feel like I kind of hardened myself for some teasing and things like that, but the AI kind of took me aback," the real-life Bichler, who also owns a yoga studio, told NPR. "It was my face, it was my body moving around, but it was not anything I'd ever consented to or participated in creating." The ad did include a disclaimer that it used AI, and in a statement, Lee told NPR that voters in his district "are smart enough to spot comedy and obvious parody when they see it." "For years, leftist groups have distorted my image in ads.
I didn't cry foul or complain; I worked harder to earn this community's trust," he added. Bichler is hardly the only candidate being rendered by artificial intelligence. New data shows AI political advertisements like these are popping up all over the country.
"It's getting way more common," said Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political ad spending. Earlier this month, the group reported that so far this year, at least 164 political ads nationwide were produced or enhanced by AI. Some have been used in high-profile races, like Spencer Pratt's run for mayor of LA and the Senate race in Texas between James Talarico and Ken Paxton.
But many, like the ad against Bichler, are appearing in down-ballot or local elections. Franz said he's not surprised: "It's a way to enhance the content of your ads, make them look pretty sharp, and it doesn't cost you all that much." AI-generated video was beginning to catch on during the last election cycle in 2024. At the time, many experts feared that it might lead to deepfake videos of candidates saying outrageous things.
In response, 31 states have passed laws prohibiting deepfakes or requiring disclosures according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But Scott Babwah Brennen, director of the Center on Technology Policy at New York University, says the wave of fakes never arrived. "The problem of deceptive deepfakes hasn't really materialized as a widescale problem," he said.
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