New York Democrats are challenging Republican Bruce Blakeman\u2019s use of artificial intelligence in campaign ads in the race for governor, alleging some of the videos violate state disclosure requirements in what could become a major test of a law New York put on the books in 2024.<\/p>\n
As Democrats call foul on Blakeman\u2019s use of AI, Blakeman is calling foul on Democrats calling foul, alleging it is new evidence that they are using underhanded tactics in his race against incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n
This week, New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs filed a complaint with the state Board of Elections alleging the Blakeman campaign is violating state law requiring labels be placed on AI-generated depictions used in political campaigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that people are held accountable, the law is very clear,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cWe thought that it was just silly nonsense early on, but now it\u2019s become clear that this is the way he\u2019s going to conduct his campaign.”<\/p>\n
Blakeman has regularly used AI depictions of his opponent, Gov. Hochul, including dialogue. Jacobs insists the videos violate the state\u2019s disclosure requirements, but also alleged they could potentially be misinterpreted by voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s false, it\u2019s misleading to the voters and the general public and we\u2019re going to put a stop to it and the law is going to have to take its place here,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n
The Blakeman campaign has said it is not breaking the 2024 law because the statute makes exceptions for satire, but says the campaign applies labels to at least some videos anyway.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Blakeman said he will not stop using AI in his campaign ads. In doing so, he took the opportunity to sow additional doubt around election integrity ahead of November. In recent weeks, he has used examples such as initially being denied campaign matching funds this spring and being shut out from speaking at a Dominican Day parade to back up a claim he made in a recent interview that Democrats would try to steal the election.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re trying to cheat. They\u2019re trying to say, ‘Blakeman is using AI’ \u2014 everybody knows it\u2019s AI and it\u2019s funny. Satire has been a part of politics since George Washington,\u201d Blakeman said.<\/p>\n
Jeffrey M. Wice, an election law professor and senior fellow at New York Law School, explained that the law does allow running room for satirical depictions but it also allows running room for interpretation \u2014 a job which ultimately fall to the state board of elections and potentially the courts. The law does provide for legal injunctions and fines if the complaint ultimately takes that course.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law basically requires labeling if you are misrepresenting or falsely portraying a candidate, the law does not require disclosure if it\u2019s simply parody,\u201d Wice said.<\/p>\n
Jacobs argued Blakeman can\u2019t seriously use a parody defense when the ads are being deployed by a candidate whose primary purpose in doing so is being actively in the midst of a high-profile candidacy for governor of New York state.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can call it satire if you want, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s in the entertainment business right now. I think he\u2019s in the trying to win an election business right now and I think he\u2019s doing so fraudulently,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n
According to Wice, how that apparent gray area is interpreted will be pivotal as those tuned into the race get a front-row seat to an initial test of New York\u2019s ability to regulate artificial intelligence in political campaigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be one of the first times that the state Board of Elections is being asked to weigh in on it, so it\u2019s a wait-and-see approach right now,\u201d Wice said.<\/p>\n
The state board of elections did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Democrats are challenging Republican Bruce Blakeman\u2019s use of artificial intelligence in campaign ads in the race…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,37653,25,67626,1672,66,37650,64946,464,65],"class_list":["post-136542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-albany-capital-region","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-jack-arpey","tag-new-york-state","tag-news","tag-ny-state-of-politics","tag-ny-state-of-politics-blog","tag-politics","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}