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Republicans have used A.I.-generated content more often than Democrats, ranging from subtle enhancements to convincing deepfakes.
It was an unlikely scene: New York’s mayor and governor appeared to be strolling through a park and gardening together in a sun-drenched suburban yard, promoting a new drug — a “political delusion pill,” they called it — to help voters overcome fears about affordability and crime.
“Side effects may include: chronic wallet shrinkage, higher tax,” a narrator intoned over plucky guitar.
Though the video captured the voices and likenesses of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul, the ad was actually an A.I.-generated fabrication. It was produced by the campaign of Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor.
The ad, which included no disclaimer that it was A.I.-made, was one of more than 220 videos identified by the Wesleyan Media Project, a research group based at Wesleyan University, that used A.I.-generated fakery in ways large and small this midterm season — part of a wave of videos powered by artificial intelligence that have flooded the internet and television screens.
Candidates and political action groups, mostly tied to Republicans, have rushed to adopt the technology, spending more than $137 million to promote such ads this year, the researchers found.
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