Artificial intelligence has been making its way into this campaign cycle, with concerns about data centers in neighborhoods potentially swaying voters and AI in campaign ads leading to confusion over content.
Two-thirds of Americans are very or somewhat concerned about AI's use in this year’s midterm elections.
Last year, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers in North Carolina sponsored House Bill 375, which would require campaigns to disclose whether they used AI to create any part of their ads. However, the bill did not advance out of committee.
State Senate Majority Leader Michael Lee ran an AI-generated ad depicting his opponent Jessica Bichler in oddly-contorted yoga poses, which has led to debate over whether generating false content should be used in attack ads.
Thirty-one states have enacted some form of regulation for AI in political campaigning, but North Carolina has not, despite several attempts to do so.
We discuss AI use in campaign ads, data centers on the mind of many at the ballot box, and deep fakes targeting people by phone on the next Charlotte Talks.
GUESTS:
Michael Bitzer, Ph.D., professor of politics & history and director of the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service at Catawba College.
Pate McMichael, director of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition and instructor of journalism at Elon University.
Shannon C. McGregor, associate professor of journalism and principal investigator, Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
