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What would happen if you only showed up to work 34% of the time?
That is the question posed in one of the latest ads from Charlie Crist’s St. Petersburgmayoral campaign, taking a swing at incumbent Ken Welch. It’s based on a Tampa Bay Times report that foundWelch swiped into City Hall 60 times in his first eight months in office.
The ad shows three people responding to the question. “Fired, same day,” says one, donning a grocery clerk smock. “Fired,” says the second, a trailer and yard maintenance equipment behind him. “Fired,” says the third, standing before a stocked bar with TV screens in the background.
Fade to a “missing” flier with a picture of Welch, flapping from a utility pole.
Crist’s camp put very little work into producing the ad, he’s proud to say, ever the politician eager to offer it as proof of his fiscal tightfistedness. The“people” in the clip are AI-generated avatars,created and fed lines by a prompt.
Crist is one of many candidates riding the wave of artificial intelligence to boost their voter outreach.Experts say it is representative of a bigger trend in the political sphere: AI is the latest tool powering campaign websites, political text messaging, video content and even some promotional jingles.
“AI has now invaded every aspect of our lives,” said Anthony Pedicini, a Tampa political consultant known for his ad work. “I don’t think politics is immune from its reach.”
In Florida, AI-generated content has popped up throughout the election cycle, though not always from a campaign itself.
Take, for example, a video with Lt. Gov. Jay Collins donning a Captain America suit and kicking his GOP gubernatorial primaryopponent Byron Donalds in the face created and shared online by a Collins supporter.
Crist’s ad seems to pass the smell test,some political experts said, describing it as “tame.” Unlike other “AI slop” videos making the rounds on the internet, the ad relies on a fact-checked source and doesn’t distort reality. That seems to be the guiding principle for political players as they weigh utilizing AI.
“As long asthe claim in the advertisement is true, then if AI has something to do with it, then it should still be fair,” Pedicini said.
The ad does accurately reflect the Times’ reporting, which looked at Welch’s attendance during his first eight months in office, starting Jan. 6, 2022. He said at the time that just because he wasn’t at the office didn’t mean he wasn’t working on behalf of residents and that’s he’s often at community events or researching issues of public importance at home.
Crist said someone on his campaign decided to create the video using AI, but he approved it before it was posted. He said he doesn’t think there are bright lines to determine how to use the tool ethically.
“You just do the best you can to have everything as accurate as possible and take it from there,” he said in an interview.
In a statement, Welch said AI can generate an ad, not a record. He criticized Crist for retreating to Minnesota, where his fiance is from, after his 2022 loss in the gubernatorial election, a point Welch has made before.
“If you’re getting your political information from AI-generated attack ads, do your own homework,” he said.
Why use AI?
Crist, the former Florida governor, said the AI use came down to efficiency and cost-saving, as it does for most candidates using the tool.
“Campaigns can be expensive, and we’re trying to be frugal,” Crist said.
Crist boasts a larger campaign coffer than any of the other five mayoral candidates. A political committee supporting his candidacy has raised more than $1.5 million, and his campaign has received more than $89,000 in donations as of July 10.
Producing a campaign ad involves equipment, crew, actors and post-production. That could run tens of thousands of dollars, Pedicini said. Add in hundreds of thousands of dollars more for the distribution and air time to run the ad.
“I could have spent $28,000 for a 12-hour film crew to be out in the 92-degree Florida sun in five locations and got the same result that they got probably with 12 prompts in 30 minutes,” Pedicini said.
The golden rules: accuracy and transparency
Crist did not run afoul of any laws. In fact, he did exactly what state law asks by including a disclaimer that the video was created “either in part or in whole” with AI.
Crist’s ad could be considered “fair game” because it relies on facts and doesn’t distort somebody else’s statements, according to Thessalia Merivaki, an associate teaching professor at Georgetown University who is studying the uses of AI by election officials and how voters may perceive that content.
The video is “tame” compared to other outlandish AI-generated content, she added, such as President Donald Trump’s post where he was depicted as a Jesus-like figure.
Other examples abound across the country. One gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts gave his opponent red eyes and an animal-like hiss. A conservative PAC created a deepfake of Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico singing about transgender kids to the tune of “My Favorite Things.”
Someone shouldn’t utilize AI to deceive people or create evidence for something that they otherwise couldn’t prove, said Julie Sweet, the director of advocacy and industry relations at the American Association of Political Consultants.
“That’s what’s out of bounds and you just shouldn’t do it regardless of whether you put a label on it or not,” Sweet said.
But Crist’s ad does raise some issues worthy of discussion or monitoring to see how its use evolves over time, Merivaki said. Feeding lines into an AI generator is no different than giving those lines to a paid actor, for instance, she said. But in those instances, the actor must at least consent to participate.
The disclaimer also doesn’t specify which parts of the video are AI-generated, which could lead to confusion, Merivaki added. And it could turn some voters off.
What do Crist voters think?
At a recent event featuring real, live Crist supporters, attendees were unfazed by his campaign’s use of AI.
Dave Hansen, 55, will vote for Crist in the upcoming election, citing his long history of public service and a need for change in the city.The ad doesn’t move the needle for him.
Hansen said the video doesn’t try to manipulate voters or alter someone’s perception of a real event.
“It’s as cut and dry as it comes,” said Hansen, who owns a technology company in St. Petersburg.
He still would’ve preferred that a real person was behind the camera, though. “Just do the work,” he said.
Jerry Babcock has known Crist for about 30 years. The retired law enforcement officer said the ad doesn’t color his view of the mayoral candidate.
Babcock said he doesn’t trust AI, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. “I’d like to take care of my own business and not have AI take care of my business,” said Babcock, 80.
People tend to put politics at the bottom of the totem pole of their priorities, said University of South Florida political science professor J. Edwin Benton.
But voters need to devote time to learn as much as they can to determine their preferred candidates, he said. That could involve visiting campaign websites, going to candidate forums and hearing someone’s platform in person.
“There’s no substitute for doing your homework and learning on your own, not depending on anyone else,” Benton said.
