Artificial Intelligence and Campaigns - Are we voting for humans or computers now?

Humans versus Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence continues to shape our lives, from customer service bots to self-driving cars.  But it has also quietly entered, like an invasive species, another arena: political campaigns.

The question voters now face is both unsettling and important — are we voting for real people, or for personas curated and crafted by AI?

It’s no secret that campaigns are largely driven by image. From the first televised presidential debates to today's social media soundbites, candidates are packaged to appeal to different audiences. It seems like some consultants can design a candidate to fit any identity from sex, age, and height to race, religion or sexual preference.  Some of the candidates seem to be straight from central casting.

Increasingly, and covertly, that packaging is no longer just the work of human consultants and strategists — it's progressively being generated, tested, and refined by artificial intelligence.

How AI is Being Used in Political Campaigns

Campaigns are using AI to:

•       Analyze massive amounts of voter data to micro-target messages
•       Craft social media content tailored to individual preferences
•       Generate talking points and speeches that align with trending issues
• Simulate public response to policy positions
•       Create hyper-realistic videos and images, even of events that never happened

Some tools are relatively benign — a candidate using ChatGPT to generate blog post drafts or brainstorm slogans. Others raise eyebrows — AI-generated avatars delivering campaign messages, or deepfake videos portraying an opponent in a false light.

No matter how little a campaign may use AI now, there is a slippery slope.  AI makes things easy.  It can blur lines.  Today you use it to help brainstorm a social media post.  Tomorrow, you are using it to package your position statements without any editing.  Where is the line between the genuine article and the manufactured candidate?

Authenticity vs. Electability

With AI in the mix, the “authenticity” of a candidate becomes harder to verify. A politician might seem charismatic, relatable, and in touch — but is that genuine, or the result of machine learning analyzing emotional triggers in the electorate?

This blurs the line between genuine leadership and performance. Voters may think they’re responding to the character and convictions of a candidate — when in reality, they’re engaging with an optimized, AI-refined version of that person, created to provoke a desired emotional response.  The message from the AI manufactured candidate is just a feedback loop from data collected about you.  Every web site you visit, every product you buy, every show or movie you watch, and every song you hear becomes digits in a matrix-like database.  You can watch a streaming show on your television and see a political ad that speaks directly to you, and your neighbors next door will be getting a tailored ad just for them from the same candidate at the same time.

Are you actually hearing a message from the candidate or the message that AI generated for you to see because of your personal preferences?

The implications are chilling.

What It Means for Elections

At its best, AI can help candidates better understand and communicate with voters. At its worst, it creates a kind of political twilight zone — where people sense something is off but can’t quite explain what.

The risk is that campaigns become less about ideas and leadership, and more about performance metrics and emotional manipulation. Voters might end up choosing between avatars rather than actual human beings, between curated personas instead of core beliefs.

So What Can We Do?

1.      Demand transparency. Voters should know when AI is being used in political communication.

2.      Support authenticity. Reward candidates who speak plainly, show vulnerability, and resist overproduced messaging.

3.      Stay informed. Be skeptical of viral videos or messages that seem “too perfect” — they might be generated or altered by AI.

4.      Expect candidates for office to meet you personally – either door-to-door or at a town hall, in a parade, at a festival or somewhere they can’t access their computer or phone to tell them what to say or think.

In this new political frontier, it’s not just the candidates who need to be smart. Voters do, too.

Further Reading:

I have published a new book titled “Political Campaigns and Artificial Intelligence” available April 25, 2025 on Amazon.com.  It is an instructional guide on the proper use of AI for campaigns

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