Scoop: Washington Democrats allege AI misuse in GOP-backed mailer
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A screenshot of a mailer in Washington's 42nd Legislative District cited in a cease-and-desist letter. Source: Letter from Washington Senate Democratic Campaign
Washington Senate Democrats are accusing a Republican-backed political action committee of using AI in a campaign ad without the disclosure required by law.
Why it matters: The dispute could become an early test of a 2023 state law that lets candidates sue over "synthetic" media that falsely depicts them saying or doing something that never happened.
The latest: The Washington Senate Democratic Campaign sent an Oct. 8 cease-and-desist letter to WA Wins, a PAC affiliated with state Senate Republicans, over a print mailer in the 42nd Legislative District.
- The letter was shared with Axios this week.
Zoom in: The mailer shown in the letter depicts Democratic state Senate candidate Michael Shepard holding a lit match to a person's back pocket as money spills out. Bills escaping from the burned pocket hole bear the words "income tax," "property taxes" and "fees."
- Democratic attorneys allege Shepard's photograph was inserted into a fabricated scene, "transforming an ordinary image into a depiction of him destroying money."
- The mailer does not include a disclosure stating that the image was manipulated, the letter says.
What they're saying: The Democratic group demanded that WA Wins stop distributing the mailer, retrieve remaining copies and confirm in writing that it had complied.
- The letter also asks WA Wins to stop using undisclosed AI-generated content in all of its ads.
- "We're concerned about how this technology could be used in future campaigns and wanted to raise the issue early," WSDC executive director Katy Ozog told Axios.
The other side: State Sen. Chris Gildon (R-Puyallup), the listed officer for WA Wins, told Axios the ad is "standard campaign mail of a type used by both sides in every electron cycle."
- "No one on Earth believes Michael Shepard is literally lighting people's pants on fire," Gildon said.
Shepard, a Western Washington University professor and Bellingham port commissioner, faces Republican Erika Creydt, a clinical psychologist, in the November election for the open state Senate seat in Whatcom County.
How it works: Washington's law allows candidates depicted in synthetic media used in election advertising to seek an injunction or damages.
- To prevail, a candidate must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the material in question realistically depicted an appearance, action or speech that did not occur and created a fundamentally different impression from the original.
- A clear disclosure that the image was manipulated gives the advertiser an affirmative defense, according to the law.
State of play: Images that appear to be AI-generated have also appeared in other political ads in Washington this year.
- One video posted by a group seeking to overturn Washington's new income tax depicts "Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings — a supporter of keeping the tax — singing The Beatles' "Taxman" while yanking pension envelopes out of people's hands.
- Jennings' "consent was not sought or granted" for the images used in the ad, Jennings told Axios in an email.
- The committee that paid for the video, Vote Yes Repeal the Income Tax, did not respond to an email from Axios seeking comment.
The big picture: The Wesleyan Media Project found $137 million had been spent on 220 AI-generated ads nationwide through Oct. 11, mostly from Republicans.
- That analysis looked at ads on broadcast television, streaming services and digital venues, and is almost certainly an undercount, Travis Ridout, co-director of the project and a professor at Washington State University, told Axios.