AI detected in DeSantis ad: how will this impact future campaigns?

Reporter: Claire Galt Writer: Rachel Murphy
Published: Updated:
Still from an anti-Trump campaign ad for Gov. Ron DeSantis containing AI-generated images. Courtesy of the DeSantis campaign

The Ron DeSantis for President campaign released an ad on June 6 of Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci hugging.

AFP Fact Check, which said its mission is to provide impartial and verified coverage of the news, flagged three of the images in the ad as fake, generated by artificial intelligence.

Their experts pointed to distorted text on the White House briefing seal and blurry spots on Trump’s hair.

“If you ran across it on a social media post, and you are Republican, you might think, ‘Oh, goodness, Donald Trump, and that Fauci guy together. That’s terrible. Yeah, we better vote for Ron DeSantis,'” Aubrey Jewett, UCF’s political scientist, said, “so that’s the potential for this AI, is that it can really be quite deceptive.”

The DeSantis campaign is not the first to use this technology. When President Joe Biden announced his candidacy, the Republican National Committee dropped an AI-generated ad. The commercial included a disclosure that the ad was AI-generated.

FGCU’s artificial intelligence ethicist Dr. Chrissann Ruehle told WINK News that disclosure makes all the difference.

“What happens is if people try to hide the use of this technology, inevitably, the public is pretty smart, the public will eventually find out,” Ruehle said, “and when they find out if it’s not been disclosed, they’re going to lose trust in the technology, and they’re going to lose trust in a politician.”

Jewett is not surprised DeSantis’ campaign didn’t disclose its use of AI.

“I definitely think we will see candidates and campaigns using it in this cycle, but I think it will only get worse over time, right?” Jewett said. “The bottom line, I don’t mean to keep saying it, but it’s inexpensive, and it’s easy to use.”

Ruehle told WINK News that soon, the only way to determine if an AI is being used will be to use AI itself.

“Intelligence has the ability to evaluate images and flag images that may or may not be fake, in which case, it is incumbent upon the human being to read,” Ruehle said.

Best advice: if you fear AI might fool you, learn the facts.

Click here to learn more about AI Generators.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.