A surge in AI-produced campaign ads across airwaves and social media is complicating voters' ability to trust what politicians say — and even to trust their own senses. Political technology experts warn that this trend can deepen an already declining level of public confidence in politicians and institutions.
What experts say
Nate Persily, co-director of the Stanford Law AI Initiative, said that Americans are increasingly losing faith in institutions to distinguish truth from falsehood, and that AI amplifies this trend. He added that consuming more artificial media reduces people's ability and perhaps willingness to discern truth from falsehood.
Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell's Tech Policy Institute, noted that both political wings appear to distrust AI: voters want authenticity rather than "AI-generated slop." Kreps suggested that some campaigns take unnecessary risks by using synthetic material instead of allowing original quotes to speak for themselves.
UC Irvine epistemologist Cailin O'Connor emphasized that even when viewers recognize an ad as synthetic, the emotional impact can remain: seeing a public figure portrayed negatively can leave lasting negative impressions.
Examples and the regulatory landscape
Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton recently released a campaign ad that used an AI-generated version of Democratic nominee James Talarico to deliver some controversial statements. The ad drew on real remarks but altered some wording and removed context in places while using a synthetic likeness to present them.
This episode comes amid broader backlash against AI, which shows up in debates ranging from campaign content to disputes over data centers. At the federal level there is effectively no comprehensive regulation of AI campaign content. Several states, however, require disclosures for potentially deceptive deepfake ads, while granting looser protection for clearly satirical material. In New York, state Democrats requested that election officials investigate a Republican gubernatorial campaign's AI ad for allegedly missing "materially deceptive" labels; the Republican campaign said the ad was satire.
How AI harms trust even when it doesn't deceive
Experts argue the main harm of AI-constructed media is not merely that people will be fooled. A larger concern is that bad actors can dismiss genuine content as "just another deepfake." Persistent skepticism and the constant need to verify content can also become tiring, leading people to assume content is fake until proven real — a dynamic that erodes a shared factual basis for public debate.
Bottom line
Without clearer, consistent rules, voters face a patchwork of standards for AI in political advertising. That fragmented environment risks pushing citizens away from shared facts and further undermining trust in politicians and institutions.
