Who needs Russian bots to corrupt an election? The Americans seem to be doing a good job all on their own. Around $185million has been spent so far on AI advertising during the US midterm run-up, according to the BBC, with 80% of it coming from the Republicans.
Even genuine ads are throwing around shocking insults with abandon: “Lloyd Jackson’s a creep. He has two kids with his cousin. If he’ll screw his own family he’ll screw yours too,” is the catchy refrain on a Republican-funded radio ad that’s been running in the crucial state of Maine. “Vote for James Talarico. He won’t steal your pen” is a Democrat line that again takes a grain of truth and turns it into something else entirely.
Around $11 billion has been spent on advertising ahead of the 3rd November midterms, which is more than the parties spent on the entire 2024 presidential election. A Non-stop barrage of attack ads are appearing on TV, radio, phones, social media, and anywhere else they can worm their way into – all focused on allegiances over issues and working on the principle that if you bombard people with enough of them, they’ll have no choice but to take notice.
The Democrats are at it too, using Jeffrey Epstein as leverage by spending around $40 million on ads accusing the Republicans of protecting the paedophile. The family of his most high-profile victim, Virginia Guiffre, have even been roped in for one of them (above).
AI advertising has come into its own, with an explosion of utter rubbish that’s cheap to make and distribute. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani seemingly has no comeback if the Republicans want to show him as a shop worker, while a Michigan senate candidate has no problem depicting himself as a heroic Trojan soldier, straight out of The Odyssey. There is little regulation around this (Maryland is the only state to ban AI political ads) and most of them don’t bother flagging up the AI nature of the content.
The whole sorry process can only confuse voters and undermine confidence in elections. US (and indeed global) politics are becoming a vicious quagmire of half-truths and downright lies, and the advertising reflects this in abundance. It makes the UK’s supposedly tight control over election campaigning seem almost quaint – and increasingly fragile.
