AI in Campaigns: Using the Tools and Complying with the Law

Staying on top of the latest campaign tech also means staying on top of the latest laws governing that tech. A recent episode of Eric Wilson’s indispensable “Campaign Trends” podcast highlighted this reminder to us on a current ballot measure campaign.

Case in point, we’re on the ballot tomorrow in a state that we haven’t worked in for almost a decade, and Eric’s discussion a few weeks back triggered a reminder that we have the burden for ourselves and on behalf of our clients to stay up on all these new laws even as we bring new tech stacks into our workflow.

The most obvious is the rapidly-evolving capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that touches all aspects of our lives, including the management of political and public affairs campaigns. We’ve written on this topic before, including our general belief that AI may never be equal to elite campaign strategists for the management of these campaigns. However, we see great value in the use of AI for such campaign tools as data analysis, content generation, and assisting in the ideation and creative process.

While we’re not fans of heavy government regulation of the use of AI, the facts are that policy makers across the nation see this emerging technology as a potential threat, and new laws and regulations are popping up all over the place to address these concerns.

In this case, the state in question requires disclosure of the use of any “synthetic media” to influence the results of an election. This is a broad requirement, and in our judgement, includes the use of AI-generated stock photos. These are not the “deepfakes” that everyone is worried about, but instead, replacing the traditional use of stock imagery to help tell a story with AI-generated images.

We’re big fans of AI stock imagery, especially as some of the early bugs in the tech improve. Just a few years ago, we’d often give direction to our designers for stock images, which was “find me the closest image you can to [INSERT NEED].” With today’s technology, we can have our designers craft exactly what we’re looking for. This is a game-changing leap forward.

And while our personal taste is for a lighter touch – do the voters really distinguish between a traditional stock image of a “family struggling to pay their bills” and an AI-generated such image – that’s not what the law said in this case. One mailer we produced included real photos of coalition members, traditional stock images, and AI-generated images. Each had a reason and a purpose in delivering the message we were aiming for, but hanging over that was compliance with a very broad disclosure law.  

A key takeaway for fellow campaign pros and clients alike: the rules and regulations are changing as quickly as the technology.  Use the tools to get that winning edge, but remember to stay on top of compliance.