在一则广告中，得克萨斯州民主党参议院候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科身穿连衣裙，以《音乐之声》中的曲调演唱关于跨性别儿童的歌曲。在另一则广告中，密歇根州民主党参议院候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔赛义德似乎正在玩棋盘游戏，并对写着“死亡美国”和“庆祝9·11”的卡片发笑。据追踪政治广告的卫斯理媒体项目称，本轮选举周期中至少有220条竞选广告使用了AI生成的内容，这只是其中两例。
IN ONE ADVERT James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, is depicted wearing a dress and singing about transgender children to a tune from “The Sound of Music”. In another Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, appears to be playing a board game and laughing at cards that read “Death to America” and “Celebrate 9/11”. These are just two of at least 220 campaign ads using AI-generated content this election cycle, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising.
播出此类广告已花费超过1.37亿美元。不过，表面之下，人工智能正以更微妙的方式颠覆竞选活动的艺术。候选人正利用这项技术更有效地挨家挨户拜访选民、筛选选民数据并制作定制信息。行业组织美国政治顾问协会最近的一项调查发现，83%的竞选策略师和政治顾问经常使用AI开展工作。最热衷的人士坚称，这项技术为竞选活动提供了决定性优势。
More than $137m has been spent airing such ads. Beneath the surface, though, artificial intelligence is disrupting the art of campaigning in more subtle ways. Candidates are using the technology to help them canvas more effectively, sift through voter data and craft custom messages. A recent survey by the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), a trade body, found that 83% of campaign strategists and political consultants regularly use AI for their work. The most boosterish insist the technology provides a decisive advantage for campaigns.
另一些人担忧，所剩无几的伦理约束正被抛到一边。AI正在改变竞选活动与选民的沟通方式。埃尔赛义德先生向Daisychain公司支付了17万美元，该公司提供一款AI驱动的平台，通过短信与选民进行个性化对话。在竞选路上，进步组织“左转”采取了不同的方法，利用AI为传统的挨家挨户拜访注入动力。其志愿者记录与选民交谈的语音备忘录，AI软件随后分析数百条此类录音，帮助竞选活动定制信息。
Others fret that what few ethical restraints remain are being shoved aside.AI is changing how campaigns communicate with voters. Mr El-Sayed shelled out $170,000 to Daisychain, a company which offers an AI-powered platform that engages in personalised conversations with voters over text messages. Out on the trail, the progressive group Swing Left is taking a different approach, supercharging old-fashioned door-knocking with AI. Its volunteers record voice memos summarising conversations with voters. AI software then analyses hundreds of these recordings to help campaigns tailor their messages.
“AI让我们更好地了解选民的个性特征，”左转执行董事亚斯敏·拉吉表示。这项技术对预算紧张的小型竞选活动来说是一大福音。
“AI gives us a much better ability to understand the idiosyncrasies of a voter,” says Yasmin Radjy, Swing Left’s executive director. The technology is a boon for smaller campaigns on tight budgets.
加利福尼亚州一名落选的民主党众议院候选人赛加特·查克拉巴蒂，让三名工作人员利用人工智能编写代码，替换掉竞选活动几乎所有付费软件，从选民外联应用程序到网站设计工具。竞选创新中心的埃里克·威尔逊认为，这种效率提升让竞选活动能够专注于最重要的事情。该中心鼓励保守派竞选活动尝试新技术。“竞选活动的核心，即与选民建立联系，始终是一门人际业务，”他说。“人工智能让我们能够做更多这样的事情，而不是枯燥的琐碎工作。”
Saikat Chakrabarti, an unsuccessful Democratic House candidate in California, had three staffers use AI to code replacements for virtually all the campaign’s paid software, from voter-outreach apps to website-design tools. Such efficiencies allow campaigns to focus on what matters most, argues Eric Wilson of the Centre for Campaign Innovation, which encourages conservative campaigns to experiment with new technology. “The core of what a campaign is about, which is connecting with voters, is still a people business,” he says. “The AI lets us do more of that than the boring, busy work.”
与此同时，人工智能越来越多地影响选民了解候选人的方式。竞选政治协会发现，至少38%的选民曾从人工智能搜索摘要中获取选举信息。因此，候选人正竞相影响聊天机器人对他们的说法——这一策略被称为“滥优化”。例如，竞选网站越来越多地设计为可被人工智能代理抓取。甚至在候选人在选举迷的百科全书Ballotpedia上的个人资料中添加信息，都可能影响人工智能聊天机器人的输出。
All this is happening as AI increasingly shapes how voters learn about candidates. The AAPC found that at least 38% of voters had received election information from an AI search summary. So candidates are rushing to influence what chatbots say about them—a tactic dubbed “sloptimisation”. Campaign websites, for example, are increasingly designed to be scrapable by AI agents. Even adding information to a candidate’s profile on Ballotpedia, a sort of Wikipedia for election wonks, can affect the output of AI chatbots.
但选民需谨慎：伦敦战略对话研究所发表的一项研究发现，领先的聊天机器人对超过四分之一的中期选举基本问题给出了错误、不完整或过时的答案。
But voters beware: a study published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think-tank in London, found that leading chatbots gave wrong, incomplete or outdated answers to over a quarter of basic questions about the midterms.
这加剧了人们对选举将被虚假信息玷污的担忧。网络安全公司VisionHeight最近发现数十个看似由人工智能生成的网站，伪装成地方报纸，旨在诱导聊天机器人对某些国会议员候选人做出有利报道。更为大胆的是深度伪造。例如，一个俄罗斯虚假信息网络被认为是一系列视频的幕后黑手，视频中一名自称的前学生错误地指控塔拉里科先生犯有性犯罪。
That has heightened fears the election will be marred by misinformation. VisionHeight, a cybersecurity firm, recently uncovered dozens of apparently AI-generated websites masquerading as local newspapers, designed to trick chatbots into pumping out favourable coverage of certain congressional candidates. Even more brazen are the deepfakes. A Russian disinformation network, for example, is thought to be behind a series of videos in which a supposed former student falsely accuses Mr Talarico of sex crimes.
此外，攻击性广告描绘民主党候选人说出他们从未说过的话，有时没有明确声明这些广告是AI生成的。在用于AI广告的1.37亿美元中，88%来自共和党竞选活动及其关联团体。威尔逊先生认为，对这类广告的担忧被夸大了，将其比作政治恶搞。选民可能不这么认为。他们可能有的任何投诉，很快可能都将由人工智能来处理。
Elsewhere, attack ads depict Democratic candidates saying things they never said, sometimes without clear disclaimers that they are AI-generated. Of the $137m spent on AI ads, 88% has come from Republican campaigns and aligned groups. Concerns about such spots are overblown, says Mr Wilson, likening them to political parody. Voters may disagree. Any complaints they have may soon be fielded by artificial intelligence.