Ron Desantis Super Pac 'Blatantly' Uses AI-Generated Trump Voice In $1 Million Ad To Attack Him

In a new television campaign ad targeting former president Donald Trump, a pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC employed an AI-generated version of Trump's voice. The Never Back Down ad accuses Trump of insulting Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds as part of his established pattern of disdain for the first caucus state.

Although the ad sounds extremely like Trump, the audio used in the commercial is not his. A source familiar with the advertisement verified to POLITICO that Trump's voice was created by AI. Its content appears to be based on a post made by Trump on his social media platform Truth Social. The ad will run statewide in Iowa for the next couple of days, according to the source, and will cost at least $1 million - a sizable figure for the super PAC.

Political advertisements have previously also used imitation, and Trump's voice in the Never Back Down video does not sound fully authentic. Nonetheless, the commercial indicates what could be the next frontier in campaign advertising: The use of AI-generated content to create increasingly difficult-to-detect deepfakes. 

“The blatant use of AI to fabricate President Trump’s voice is a desperate attempt by Always Back Down and Jeff Roe to deceive the American public because they know DeSanctimonious’ campaign is on life support,” a senior advisor on Trump's campaign, Chris LaCivita said, referring to a top official with the pro-DeSantis super PAC. “After losing big donors and slashing their staff, they have now outsourced their work to AI just like they would like to outsource American jobs to China.”

Never Back Down had previously utilized artificial intelligence to superimpose a fighter plane into a pro-DeSantis advertisement. On May 24, the super PAC produced a 30-second campaign advertisement that featured no genuine visuals and was entirely manufactured using AI, per Forbes. The ad, which depicted a dark and frightening future of the United States if President Joe Biden were re-elected, featured scenes of China attacking Taiwan, migrants attempting to breach the border, and military lining the streets of a closed-down San Francisco.

While the movie bears the disclaimer “built entirely with AI imagery,” the font size and color are small and easily missed.

Some lawmakers, such as Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), are concerned about the use of AI in campaign advertisements. She submitted legislation earlier this month that would demand the disclosure of AI-generated information in political advertisements. The measure would make the wording disclaimer “built entirely with AI imagery” shown in the RNC ad from April required in all campaign advertising that uses AI. According to Clarke, present regulations “don’t begin to scratch the surface with respect to protecting the American people from what the rapid deployment of AI can mean in disrupting society.”

References:

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/17/desantis-pac-ai-generated-trump-in-ad-00106695

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/05/25/new-desantis-ad-superimposes-fighter-jets-in-ai-altered-video-of-speech/?sh=74009e86386e