The Right is Leaning into AI Tools for Political Messaging—but not for the Reasons You Think

Over the past year, so-called ‘generative artificial intelligence’—comprising a large body of tools capable of producing content including imagery, text, audio, and other media—has taken major leaps in both fidelity and accessibility. Experts have been sounding the alarm for years about the prospect of deepfakes disrupting the flow of facts, particularly in the political process. What’s often imagined is that, with these powerful new tools, politicians will be depicted saying things they didn’t actually say, thereby influencing popular opinion.

This remains a possibility, but the recent anti-Biden RNC ad points to a different prospect.