As the 2026 midterm elections approach, AI-generated political advertisements are popping up all over the country. According to the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political spending, at least 220 ads have been produced or enhanced with AI by candidates or political action committees this election cycle. They have cost campaigners more than $137 million. AI-generated videos gained popularity during the last presidential election cycle in 2024. Additionally, the Wesleyan Media Project discovered that 81% of the AI-created ads were sponsored by Republican candidates or groups, 12% by Democrats and the remainder by independent candidates or groups. This surge in popularity led to many experts fearing a rise in deepfake, misleading videos. Deepfakes are AI-generated videos in which a real person is prompted to say or do something that didn’t actually happen. In response, 31 states have passed laws prohibiting deepfakes or requiring AI disclosures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. However, because the usage of AI is so new, there is yet to be permanent federal legislation regulating its use for nonintimate purposes. However, the federal Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN) Act approved in May 2025 remains as the only nationwide rule addressing intimate deepfakes.
However, deepfakes are not the central use of AI in political propaganda. It’s mainly being used to portray political opponents in a satirical light. One of the many examples of this can be seen in the North Carolina Senate race. Jessica Bichler was running for the North Carolina Senate as a Democratic candidate, when she appeared in an ad aired by her opponent, Republican candidate Senator Michael Lee. The ad showed an AI-generated Bichler contorting her body into absurd shapes, while making claims about her stances on policing and healthcare. Bichler is hardly the only candidate being edited by AI. New data shows AI political advertisements like these are popping up all over the country as we speak.
Some view AI as an extension of art in politics. For hundreds of years, politicians have depicted opponents with exaggerated traits or shown them in ways that reflect their policies unfavorably. AI is, in a sense, the next version of the political cartoon. However, the novelty of AI technology, along with its ability to generate lifelike videos, could influence voters in unpredictable ways. Additionally, the relatively low spending reflects that AI is an accessible, inexpensive tool that allows under-resourced candidates to produce creative ads without the high costs of a traditional production.
The use of AI may be more convenient to certain political candidates, but it increases the risk of misrepresenting their policies on issues. Regulating the usage of AI in political ads is ambiguous and faces major legal struggles as commercials reuse words the candidate actually said. This leaves it up to us to cross-check information across credible sources. Political ads should not be our main sources of political information regardless, as the culture is to skew their opponents in a negative light. Ideally, the goal of political ads shouldnot be to slander their opponent’s name. It should give voters enough information to ask a much more important question: Will giving my vote to this person bring change?As AI technology continues to evolve, the challenge for voters is not just recognizing what may be false information, but understanding how the information they see online is selected and presented.
