AI Election Ads Spark Controversy Over Use of Fictional Children
A new analysis of AI usage in election campaigns reveals a shift in strategy among Israeli political parties. While the Likud party maintains a steady presence with 58 AI-generated content pieces, the "Yashr" party, previously a leader in AI campaign materials, has significantly reduced its output to 29 items, placing it fifth. This decline has allowed "Otzma Yehudit" (36 items) and the "Democrats" party (35 items) to surge, concentrating AI campaign efforts on these larger satellite parties as the election nears. The Economic Party, led by Professor Yaron Zelekha, also maintains a consistent high presence with 34 AI content pieces.
Notable AI-driven video campaigns have emerged. Shas released two AI videos reacting to the Attorney General's decision to postpone a state memorial for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. These videos depict the Attorney General extinguishing the Rabbi's memorial candle and erasing his portrait, illustrating AI's capacity for rapid, emotionally charged visual responses to current events.
Benny Gantz's campaign released an AI video featuring children shouting political insults, raising questions about the use of "generated" children in campaign propaganda. Central Elections Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg ordered the video's removal, ruling that the prohibition on using children in propaganda extends to AI-generated children.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also utilized AI, presenting a "children's book" video that highlighted his achievements. This video, which also referenced the Attorney General's alleged attempts to thwart his plans, used unrealistic AI to depict events and characters in fictional scenarios, circumventing the need to label it as deepfake.
The research is a collaboration between the Open University's "It's AI" initiative, aimed at increasing transparency in AI use for election propaganda, and is funded by the Peres Center for Digital Law and Innovation and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Tel Aviv University, with support from The Bright Initiative of Bright Data.
