Why AI ads and foreign meddling did not seem to sway the US midterm elections
The real harm may have been done elsewhere, in the deepening of divisions and erosion of trust, experts told CNA.
The United States midterm elections passed without major disruption or surprises, with the Democrats winning a landslide victory. However, experts suggest the real harm may have been done elsewhere, in deepening divisions and erosion of trust. A hyperrealistic AI-generated video depicted Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed laughing at cards that read "Celebrate 9/11", while another showed James Talarico, another Democratic hopeful, defacing a Bible with a crayon. These were ads generated using AI, sponsored by the Republican Party and costing over $187 million.
US intelligence agencies had flagged a separate threat: covert online campaigns linked to foreign governments, increasingly run with the help of AI. Despite months of warnings, the elections proceeded without major disruption. The Democrats secured a landslide victory, with El-Sayed beating Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan and Talarico defeating Republican Ken Paxton.
The foreign operations struggled to find an audience, with foreign meddling not surging around the election day as expected and no signs of voting systems being hacked or ballot counts altered.
Experts caution that some interference may not have come to light yet, and online campaigns could deepen divisions and distrust long after an election. The midterms were the first US election in which AI was incorporated into major social media platforms, chatbots, media generation tools, and content moderation systems. However, many AI-generated ads, mostly sponsored by Republicans, used AI to alter real photographs and videos or to show absurd scenes. The combined effect could have made voters perceive the ads as manipulative.
Nevertheless, researchers and campaign strategists found that many of these ads failed to sway voters, as they appeared manipulative. Foreign meddling, a problem for US elections since 2016, did not surge around election day, and there was no evidence of voting systems being hacked or ballot counts altered. Experts warn that the activity spotted so far might not represent the full picture, as some attempts to sway the midterms may have been stopped or gone unnoticed.
Written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
