AI-generated attack ads show politicians dancing with drag queen, defacing a Bible
Two weeks before an election, a stunning political ad was released by Republican Jennifer Balkcom.
It showed Democratic candidate Jamie Ager slow dancing with a drag queen, their faces inches apart.
An AI-generated ad depicts Jamie Ager dancing with a drag queen. Balkcom for Congress
Ager has a broad smile on his face, and the drag queen is looking deeply into his eyes.
"Jamie Ager talks like you and me, but he's dancing with they/them," the text on the screen reads.
The problem is, none of the footage of a "drag queen barn dance" is real.
The ad is generated by AI, including close-ups of real people and a young child looking troubled by the party going on around him.
At no point in the 30-second ad is it disclosed the video is fake, as realistic as it seems.
The ad takes footage from one of Ager’s ads, which features a barn dance “mountain hoedown” of people dancing in jeans and flannels to folk music.
In the original ad, Ager is dancing with his wife.
Ager lashed out at the Balkom campaign over the ad.
"Our opponent is attacking us with 100 per cent fake AI-generated lies," he said.
"When you don't have anything to run on in your campaign, I guess you have to resort to this kind of bullcrap to try to convince people to vote for you."
The original ad shows Jamie Ager dancing with his wife. Jamie Ager for Congress
But the ad has also drawn the ire of the drag queen shown dancing with Ager.
Nova lives in the district but said she has never met Ager or been on his property.
"I’ve never met the man in my life. I’m going to be honest with you: I’ve never been to a barn dance in my life," Nova said.
Nova has sent a cease-and-desist to Balkcom's campaign, but the ad remains on air.
Ager and Balkcom are in a heated contest for North Carolina's 11th congressional district.
The district is located in the conservative Appalachian west of the state but its largest city is the progressive Asheville.
The seat has been held by Republicans since 2013 but Democrats hope Ager, a local farmer, can pick up the seat.
The ad in North Carolina is not the first that relies on AI.
In Texas, Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton released an ad depicting his Democratic opponent James Talarico defacing a Bible.
The ad depicts Talarico crossing out passages and adding lines of his own to a Bible in crayon.
At one point, the AI-generated Talarico looks directly at the camera and speaks.
The ad features quotes Talarico has said in the past about his own beliefs, which represent a liberal view of Christianity.
"Certain video content depicted in this advertising was generated by artificial intelligence," reads text that appears in fine print at the bottom of the ad for a few seconds.
James Talarico is depicting defacing a Bible in an AI-generated ad by Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton
Democrats have also used AI in ads, but a study from Wesleyan Media Project found four in five AI-generated commercials were aired by Republicans.
Instead Democrats have taken the opposite tack, with ads taking aim at artificial intelligence and the data centres that generate them.
One particular ad from Talarico condemning the proliferation of data centres ends with the text: "Made by humans, not AI."
Election Day is November 3.
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