梅丽莎·戈尔丁 乍看之下，这似乎是一段再普通不过的竞选宣传片：在一个阳光明媚的日子，两个人边走边聊，分别自我介绍说自己是佐赫兰·马姆达尼和凯茜·霍楚尔，他们正在一座公园里散步。
MELISSA GOLDIN In what appears at first to be a typical campaign , two people introduce themselves as Zohran Mamdani and Kathy Hochul while strolling through a park on a beautiful sunny day.
然而，随着这段43秒的视频继续播放，纽约市市长马姆达尼和纽约州州长霍楚尔之间的一段对话却将两人描绘成了负面形象。视频中有一处用画外音将霍楚尔称为“给那些宁愿不去思考再连任四年究竟会带来什么代价的纽约人服下的政治幻觉药丸”。这是因为该视频实际上是布鲁斯·布莱克曼的竞选广告。他是获得特朗普背书的共和党纽约州州长候选人，正在与现任民主党州长霍楚尔竞选。视频中马姆达尼和霍楚尔的画面均由人工智能生成。布莱克曼与这段视频的关系以小字形式披露，字样为“由布莱克曼为纽约州竞选支付”，并 throughout（贯穿）出现在视频中。尽管纽约州法律要求政治传播内容必须披露人工智能的使用情况，但这段视频始终未提及使用了人工智能。
But as the 43-second video continues, Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, and Hochul, the governor of New York State, have a conversation that paints them in a negative light. At one point Hochul is described in a voiceover as “the political delusion pill for New Yorkers who would rather think about what four more years could actually cost them.” That’s because the video is actually a campaign ad for Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for New York governor who is running against Hochul, the Democratic incumbent. The images of Mamdani and Hochul were generated using artificial intelligence. Blakeman’s connection to the video is disclosed in small text reading “paid for by Blakeman for New York” that appears throughout. Its use of AI is never mentioned, despite a New York law requiring such disclosures in political communications.
纽约州民主党于8月就布莱克曼在广告中使用人工智能一事向州选举委员会提出投诉，指控他违反了这项新法律。布莱克曼竞选团队没有立即回应置评请求。
The New York State Democratic Party filed a complaint in August with the state’s Board of Elections about Blakeman’s use of AI in his ads, alleging that he has broken this new law. Blakeman’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
在2026年中期选举中，利用人工智能攻击竞争对手的竞选活动并不少见，只是有些广告一眼就能看出是假的，有些则没那么明显。美国各州已就候选人必须如何透明地披露人工智能的使用形成了一套拼凑而成、彼此不一的法律，但数据显示，候选人有时会无视这些法律。专家表示，尽管目前判断这类人工智能生成的广告是否标明来源，以及其对选民会产生何种影响都为时过早，但加强并完善监管已势在必行。
Campaign s that use AI to attack rival candidates are not uncommon in the 2026 midterms, some more obviously fake than others. A patchwork of state laws has emerged around how transparent candidates must be about this practice, but data shows candidates at times disregarding those laws. Experts say that although it is too soon to assess the impact such AI-generated ads will have on voters, with or without labels, more effective regulation is imperative.
纽约大学科技政策中心主任、社会媒体、人工智能与政治中心政策研究助理斯科特·巴布瓦·布伦宁表示：“我通常并不反对针对范围狭窄且具有实质性欺骗性的内容设置此类标签。”但他补充指出，由于错误信息是现有媒体环境的结果，因此重要的是从整体层面解决问题，而不仅仅是逐案处理。
“I’m generally not opposed to the sort of labels that exist, on narrowly targeted and materially deceptive content,” said Scott Babwah Brennen, the director of New York University’s Center on Technology Policy and a policy research affiliate at its Center for Social Media, AI, and Politics. He added, however, that because misinformation is the result of the existing media environment, it’s important to address the problem as a whole, not just on a case-by-case basis.
韦斯利安媒体项目负责追踪和分析选举广告，目前已识别出在当前选举周期中至少有164条由人工智能生成或增强的政治广告。关于该数据的新闻稿提醒称，由于很难确定是否使用了人工智能，实际数量可能远不止于此。在这些广告中，69%未披露使用了人工智能工具。
The Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks and analyzes election advertising, has identified at least 164 political ads generated or enhanced with AI during the current election cycle. A press release about the data cautions that there are likely many more since it can be difficult to tell definitively if AI was used. Of this total, 69% of the ads did not disclose the use of AI tools.
当被问及未披露的广告中有多少在已就政治竞选活动中的人工智能使用制定法律的州播出时，该项目联合主任特拉维斯·里道特将其数据与美国州立法者全国会议的数据进行了交叉比对。他发现，在那些没有关于竞选广告中人工智能使用披露法律的州，32%的相关广告仍然包含了免责声明。而在有相关法规的州，仅有29%的广告包含了披露信息。
Asked about how many of the ads without disclosures were aired in states with laws about AI use in political campaigns, Travis Ridout, the project’s co-director, cross-referenced his data with that from the National Conference of State Legislatures . He found that in states with no laws regarding the disclosure of AI use in campaign ads, 32% of such ads contained a disclaimer anyway. Only 29% of those from states with regulations included a disclosure.
里道特提醒，这些发现存在一些注意事项。首先，由于人工智能的使用方式不同，项目数据库中的部分广告不受这些法律的监管。例如，田纳西州的法律仅涉及冒充候选人的深度伪造内容。其次，某些人工智能法律可能是在广告播出后才颁布的。尽管法律并未强制要求，竞选活动仍披露了人工智能的使用，这一点让他感到意外。
Ridout cautioned that there are some caveats to these findings. One, some ads in the project’s database are not subject to regulation by these laws because of how the AI was used. For example, Tennessee’s law only concerns deepfakes impersonating candidates. Two, an AI law may have been enacted after an ad aired. The fact that campaigns disclosed the use of AI when they weren’t legally required to still surprised him.
“我认为，眼下各竞选团队确实都在努力弄清楚，围绕这类广告应遵循哪些规范、适用哪些法律，”他说，“这可能取决于竞选顾问或制作广告的公司。当前情况充满不确定性，所以一切仍在摸索之中。”有些广告似乎是故意误导，另一些则显得幽默、讽刺，甚至夸张到不像真的。
“I think it’s a time when campaigns are really trying to figure out what are the norms surrounding this, what are the laws surrounding this?” he said. “It may depend on the campaign consultant or the firm that’s producing the ads. It’s a time of uncertainty and so it’s all shaking out right now.” While some ads appear to be intentionally deceptive, others come across as humorous, satirical, or too extreme to be real.
共和党人迈克·罗杰斯正在密歇根州与民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德激烈争夺一个空缺的联邦参议院席位。今年6月，他在X平台上发布了一段视频，将自己塑造成超级英雄，并完成徒手拦住失控汽车等physically不可能的任务。帖子写道：“黑粉会说这是AI生成的。” Presumably是在开玩笑。
Republican Mike Rogers, who is in a tight race against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for an open Senate seat in Michigan, posted a video to X in June that showed him as a superhero performing physically impossible tasks such as stopping an out-of-control car with one hand. “Haters will say it’s AI,” the post read, presumably in jest.
北卡罗来纳州共和党籍州参议员迈克尔·李的竞选团队今年8月发布了一则广告，攻击民主党人杰西卡·比奇勒过于自由派。广告中，比奇勒是一名瑜伽教练，却被呈现为将四肢扭曲到不可能的姿态。免责声明写道：“你猜对了！这些荒诞的视频片段 Definitely 是用AI生成的。”卫斯理媒体项目识别出的164则广告中，80%由共和党候选人或亲共和党团体赞助。11%来自亲民主党赞助方，其余9%则是独立候选人的广告，以及聚焦具体议题等广告。
The campaign for North Carolina Republican state Sen. Michael Lee posted an ad in August attacking his opponent, Democrat Jessica Bichler, for being too liberal. It shows Bichler, a yoga instructor, contorting her limbs into impossible positions. A disclaimer states, “You guessed it! AI was definitely used to generate these silly video clips.” Out of the 164 ads identified by the Wesleyan Media Project, 80% were sponsored by either Republican candidates or pro-Republican groups. Eleven percent were from pro-Democratic sponsors, while the remaining 9% were ads for independent candidates in addition to ads focused on specific issues and more.
民主党政治战略家和政策顾问巴兹尔·斯米克尔表示，未披露AI广告的使用情况可能是有意为之，也可能是疏忽，或仅仅因为竞选团队不知道应当作出此类披露。他解释道，AI广告的便捷制作能够为竞选团队节省成本并提高效率。然而，使用这类广告可能损害真实性，也可能让选民感到受到误导。当然，这类广告还很容易导致错误信息传播。
Basil Smikle, a Democratic political strategist and policy adviser, said that a lack of disclosure on AI ads could be intentional, but that it could also be an oversight or the result of campaigns simply not knowing that they should include one. He explained that the ease with which AI ads can be created means increased cost savings and efficiency for campaigns. However, their use risks a loss of authenticity and the potential for voters to feel misled. And of course, they can easily lead to the spread of misinformation.
斯迈克尔表示：“如果落入错误的人手中，这可能成为一种非常危险的趋势，但如果操作得当，它可以帮助竞选活动完成那些需要且应当完成的工作，即讲好故事。”
“In the wrong hands, it could be a really dangerous trend, but if done well it can help do things that campaigns need to do and should do, which is tell good stories,” Smikle said.
他补充说，将广告标注为人工智能生成对于围绕我们“尚未完全理解”的技术进行问责至关重要，并为选民提供了做出明智选择所需的信息。
Labeling ads as AI is important for accountability around technology “we still don’t fully comprehend,” he added, and gives voters the information they need to make good choices.
尽管这些标签可能有助于提高透明度，但巴布瓦·布伦宁于2024年10月共同撰写的一份报告发现，标签反而可能损害候选人的形象。在一项在线实验中，当候选人的广告包含人工智能免责声明时，受访者认为这些候选人可信度和吸引力较低，并认为广告本身准确性较差。标签还产生了“反噬效应”，即受访者对攻击性广告制作方的评价低于对被攻击候选人的评价。多达37%的受访者甚至不记得自己看到过人工智能标签。
While they may promote transparency, an October 2024 report co-authored by Babwah Brennen found that labels can end up hurting a candidate. Respondents in an online experiment rated candidates as less trustworthy and less appealing when their ads contained AI disclaimers, and the ads themselves as less accurate. Labels also created a “backfire effect” in which respondents expressed lower opinions of creators of attack ads than of the candidates being attacked. As many as 37% of respondents didn’t even remember seeing an AI label.
巴布瓦·布伦宁主张采取更全面的应对策略来处理人工智能竞选广告的出现。例如，总体提升竞选透明度，并加大对地方新闻业的投入。他还指出，由于监管此类人工智能使用的法律非常新，目前尚不清楚执法机制如何运作，以及哪些事项属于其管辖范围。里德奥特表示，标准化这些法规可能会有所帮助。
Babwah Brennen advocates for more of an overarching approach to addressing the arrival of AI campaign ads. For example, improving campaign transparency in general and investing in local journalism. He also noted that because laws regulating such AI use are so new, it’s not yet clear how enforcement works and what falls within their purview. Standardizing these regulations could help, Ridout said.
他说：“如果我们能在联邦层面达成某种共识，我认为这将使竞选活动更清楚地了解我们可以做什么、不能做什么。”“国会尚未采取任何行动，监管机构也是如此。因此，许多州填补了这一真空。”
“If we could get something at the federal level I think that would make it clearer for campaigns what we can, what we can’t do,” he said. “Congress hasn’t done anything yet, nor have the regulatory agencies. And so into that vacuum many of the states have entered.”