TThe New York mayoral election will likely be remembered not just for the impressive win of the young democratic socialists but also for a significant trend that could influence future campaigns: the rise of AI-generated campaign videos.
Andrew Cuomo, who lost last week to Zoran Mamdani, has notably engaged in the distribution of deepfake videos featuring his opponent, with one such video alleging racism against him.
Although AI has been utilized in political campaigns before—primarily for algorithms that target voters or create policy ideas—its evolution has seen the creation of sometimes misleading imagery and videos.
“What was particularly innovative this election cycle was the deployment of generative AI to produce content directly for voters,” stated New York State Representative Alex Boas, who advocates for regulations governing AI use.
“Whether it was the Cuomo team or not? Creating a housing plan with ChatGPT or AI-generated video ads targeting voters felt revolutionary during the 2025 campaign cycle, marking an unprecedented approach.”
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who exited the race in September, also leveraged AI, utilizing it to generate a robocall and producing a feature in The New Yorker where he converses in Mandarin, Urdu, and Yiddish. An AI video depicted a dystopian view of New York and aimed critiques at Mamdani.
In a controversial move, Mr. Cuomo faced allegations of racism and Islamophobia after his campaign shared a video depicting a fictitious Mamdani eating rice with his fingers and included an unrelated portrayal of a black man shoplifting. The campaign also featured a black individual in a purple suit appearing to endorse sex trafficking, which was later deleted under the pretext of an error.
Boas, who is campaigning for a House seat, remarked that many AI-generated ads from the recent election cycle may have crossed into what could be deemed bigoted territories.
“We need to assess if this is due to algorithms perpetuating stereotypes from their training data, or if it’s simply easier to manipulate content digitally without the need to coordinate specific actions with actors,” Boas indicated.
“Digital creation simplifies the production of content that might be frowned upon by polite society,” he added.
In New York, campaigns are mandated to label AI-generated ads, but several—including one from Mr. Cuomo—failed to do so. The New York State Board of Elections oversees potential violations, but Boas pointed out that campaigns might risk penalties as the costs could be outweighed by the gains from winning.
“There will likely be campaigns willing to take that risk: if they win, the post-election fines become irrelevant,” Boas stated. “We need an effective enforcement mechanism that can intervene rapidly before elections to minimize damage, rather than simply impose penalties afterward.”
Robert Wiseman, co-director of Public Citizen, a nonprofit that has supported various AI regulations nationwide, noted that attempting to deceive the public is illegal in more than half of states and that campaigns must label AI-generated materials as such. However, he cautioned that the regulation of AI in political contexts remains a critical issue.
“Deception has historically been part of politics, but the implications of AI-generated misinformation are particularly concerning,” Wiseman explained.
“When audiences are shown a convincingly authentic video of someone making a statement, it becomes incredibly challenging for that individual to refute it, essentially forcing them to challenge viewers’ perceptions.”
AI technology can now generate convincing videos, but execution weaknesses still exist. A “Zoran Halloween Special” video released by Cuomo was clearly labeled as AI-generated yet showcased a poorly rendered image of Mamdani with mismatched audio and nonsensical dialogue.
With midterm elections on the horizon and the 2028 presidential campaign approaching, AI-generated political videos are poised to become a fixture in the landscape.
At the national level, this trend is already evident. Elon Musk shared an AI-generated video where Kamala Harris appeared to assert her role as a de facto presidential candidate and claimed she “knows nothing about running a country.”
While states are advancing in their efforts to regulate AI’s role in elections, there seems to be a lack of willingness to implement such measures at the federal level.
During the No King protests in October, Donald Trump released an AI video showcasing him in a fighter jet, dropping brown liquid on protestors, among his most recent AI content.
With President Trump’s evident support for this medium, it appears unlikely that Republicans will seek to impose restrictions on AI anytime soon.
Source: www.theguardian.com
