In New Jersey's contentious gubernatorial race, one candidate is leaning on AI to make his case.
Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer aired a new TV ad over the weekend featuring a deepfake of himself and President Trump duking it out in a boxing ring. "Jersey needs a born fighter who will stand up to Trump’s chaos and lower our taxes and costs," Gottheimer writes on X. "I’m ready to go round after round in the ring to protect our families."
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Gottheimer seems to enjoy using technology to shape his image. Last year, he posted fake Spotify Wrapped results showing that his top five songs were from Jersey-born Bruce Springsteen to show his commitment to the state. After getting called out, he posted his real results, showing Springsteen among his top artists, Billboard reports.
The Trump boxing spot could be one of the first official TV ads in a major political race to use AI, NBC News reports. In the 2024 presidential election, deepfakes featured prominently on social media, but not on TV. However, a 2024 study by Google's DeepMind group found that political deepfakes are the top use of malicious AI because they can effectively sway public opinion.
Last year, Trump created and posted his creations of former VP Kamala Harris on social media, a few times portraying her as a communist with the hammer and sickle symbol. Elon Musk also shared one portraying Harris discrediting her own credentials.
NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation in early April criminalizing the production and dissemination of deepfakes. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a similar bill last fall. The NJ bill was "inspired partly" by the advocacy of a high school student whose peers created explicit, AI-generated images of her. However, it also has a focus on election integrity.
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"Deepfakes are a powerful tool for deception, capable of undermining public trust. And, election interference is not just an attack on a process—it is an attack on the very foundation of our democracy," NJ Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way said earlier this month.
Gottheimer's ad includes an AI disclosure, and it's also pretty obviously AI (Trump is more of a wrestling fan), but it could be a slippery slope.
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I'm the expert at PCMag for all things electric vehicles and AI. I've written hundreds of articles on these topics, including product reviews, daily news, CEO interviews, and deeply reported features. I also cover other topics within the tech industry, keeping a pulse on what technologies are coming down the pipe that could shape how we live and work.
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