Mid-term elections, record spending and the use of AI in the election campaign

With just a few days to go before the US mid-term elections, total spending on the election campaign is set to exceed the record figure of $12 billion. This figure is even higher than the $8.9 billion spent on the 2022 campaign, halfway through Joe Biden’s presidential term.

In addition to classic merchandise such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, badges and caps bearing slogans, political parties’ communication strategies now also include the use of artificial intelligence. This technology is now widely used to produce election adverts in the battle between Democrats and Republicans for control of the US Congress.

According to data from the Wesleyan Media Project (which monitors spending on political advertising), there has been a boom in caricatures and hyper-realistic parodies (slopaganda) used to ridicule opponents. Campaigns in numerous states have made extensive use of images generated to simulate dystopian scenarios or their rivals’ clumsy moves. Since the start of the year, more than 164 national political adverts have been produced or edited using AI.

With the election campaign now drawing to a close, the Republicans appear to be better positioned in terms of the financial resources provided by donations. The party’s coffers Trump are able to fund a final push in an attempt to make a difference. The Conservatives have also been able to count on significant support from Elon Musk, who has contributed $455 million to back Republican candidates.

The Democrats’ campaign, on the other hand, relies on small donors but also on large cheques from Michael Bloomberg. Having already contributed 86 million in recent months, the former mayor of New York has donated a further 36 million in the last few days to support Democratic candidates and causes.