RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina has officially entered the new frontier of political advertising: artificial intelligence.
What could be the first fully AI-generated ad in the state hit the airwaves late on Tuesday. It parodies Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's campaign for the governor seat.
WCNC Charlotte spoke with Todd Stiefel, the leader of the political action committee known as Americans for Prosparody which created the ad.
"It's parodying both Mark Robinson's extremism and AI itself," said Stiefel.
While the images and audio are fake, Stiefel says all the claims the AI version of Robinson makes are ones the real Robinson has posted or said in the past.
The ad, which is not running on WCNC Charlotte, is posted in full on YouTube. The description includes links to all of the source material for it.
Editor's note: The ad is embedded below. It features some language. Viewer discretion is advised.
There is a disclaimer at the bottom left through the length of the video, as well as a full disclaimer title screen at the beginning, letting the viewer know it's artificially generated.
"These are tools that are available to everyone, which is great that we have this new technology," Stiefel said. "A little scary for when this technology is used by bad actors -- if you don't cover it in disclaimers, it can be used for misinformation."
Rep. Kevin Crutchfield, a Republican representing parts of both Cabarrus and Rowan counties in the General Assembly, knows this side of AI personally. He says he was targeted by a deepfake during his election campaign.
"I've never met Donald Trump. He doesn't know who I am, and it was using Donald Trump's voice to say things that were not very positive about me and my campaign," Rep. Crutchfield said. "There was no way to fight that back."
To combat this, he has sponsored House Bill 1072, which aims to require disclaimers like this on political ads using AI. It's passed the North Carolina House and is still in need of approval from the Senate.
Stiefel says he's in support of legislation like this.
"This is new technology. It's here. It's not going anywhere. It should be used for the truth. It shouldn't be banned in general, but fraudulent uses of it should be banned," Stiefel said.
The ad was put together before the recent CNN investigation, accusing Robinson of making racist and sexual comments on an adult before he was elected.
Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.