Minnesota\u2019s AI nudification technology ban<\/a>,\u00a0said he would bet that taking a closer look at AI use in campaigns would be a bipartisan issue if lawmakers chose to revisit it.<\/p>\n\u201cWe have enough trouble as it is making sure that people are getting accurate information in terms of being able to formulate their opinions and the decisions they want to make when it comes time to vote,\u201d he said. \u201cThe last thing we need are campaigns or \u2026 outside third parties \u2026 using AI to purposely mislead voters and produce outcomes that are based on anything other than fact. That should always be concerning and alarming to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duckworth said that, to be fair, he could see some \u201cinnocent\u201d ways campaigns might use AI. For example, a small business owner running a campaign might use AI to make fliers.<\/p>\n
Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, who has worked on many of Minnesota\u2019s AI laws, says campaign uses like speech writing aren\u2019t necessarily concerning from a legal perspective, but they are concerning from a \u201chuman perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMinnesotans don\u2019t want this in their elections,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Campaigns asked about AI use<\/p>\n
Research shows humans are becoming better at spotting AI, Maye Quade said, and that generally, it\u2019s \u201cunsettling\u201d to spot it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want someone to look at something of yours and be unsettled by it. If you want them to vote for you, that\u2019s actually not going to urge people to vote for you. And so, from a human perspective, I think it\u2019s just stupid,\u201d she said. \u201cLegally, if people want to be lazy and use AI to write speeches instead of saying their own words, like, by all means, they can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several high-profile campaigns \u2014 Craig, Michele Tafoya, and gubernatorial candidates Kendall Qualls and House Speaker Lisa Demuth \u2014 did not provide details to Forum News Service about whether they use AI in their campaign materials, how they use it if they do, or whether they have guidelines on AI use.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar\u2019s campaign for governor said Klobuchar \u201chas long warned about the deceptive use of AI-generated images, audio, and video in our elections, in scams, and in nonconsensual sexual images.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe worked across the aisle to pass her bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed into law last year, to criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate images, and leads bipartisan legislation to ban deceptive AI content in political ads,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cHer campaign follows the same standards her bipartisan bills would make law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lexi Byler, a spokesperson for Flanagan\u2019s campaign, said the use of \u201cdeceptive AI in political campaigns is a threat to public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already seen that firsthand in Minnesota when a super PAC supporting Congresswoman Angie Craig aired an attack ad with an AI-generated deepfake of Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan,\u201d Byler said. \u201cCampaigns and super PACs should be able to agree on one basic principle: don\u2019t use AI to manipulate voters or fabricate images, audio, or video of your opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much AI tools could be used in campaigns \u2014 and whether the public will know about that use \u2014 remains to be seen. Regardless, said Rege, the AI expert with the University of St. Thomas, \u201cthe line between optional and unavoidable is disappearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is because AI is no longer a separate tool that you just choose to switch on. It is being built directly into the apps campaigns already rely on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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