The fact that the Republican National Committee (RNC) had attack ads prepared for when President Joe Biden declared his re-election campaign is not astonishing. However, what sets their latest video apart is its usage of artificial intelligence-generated imagery to depict the RNC’s perception of the world in the event of Biden’s victory in 2024.
According to Axios, the RNC confirmed this was their initial instance of employing a video entirely produced with AI. The video shows Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at an election victory celebration. Despite a feeble disclaimer located in the top-left corner that clarifies the usage of “AI imagery,” the excessive number of teeth on the AI-generated smiling figures reveals that the image is not an authentic photograph of Biden and Harris.
The advertisement proceeds to illustrate numerous domestic and global events that the RNC proposes could occur if the Biden-Harris pair wins again. For instance, a phony news anchor announces, “This morning, an emboldened China invades Taiwan.” The ad then intensifies anxieties regarding a financial crisis resulting from the shutdown of hundreds of regional banks. Additionally, it suggests that asylum seekers may overwhelm border agents, and the military may seize San Francisco due to “escalating crime and the fentanyl crisis.”
This advertisement does not deviate significantly from the typical talking points that one might anticipate Republicans to employ in an attack ad. Nevertheless, the video is an alarming indicator of what we might witness increasingly in political campaigns in the coming months and years. It is not hard to envision AI-created images portraying blatant fabrications in attack ads.
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