"But as irresistible as it is to dunk on Cuomo as an out-of-touch boomer falling back on A.I. slop, the images in his campaign ad aren't just lazy replacements for the real thing. They're a dog whistle to Cuomo's right-leaning supporters, the ones who see the possibility of a Muslim socialist running the biggest city in the country as an "existential threat." In theory, generative A.I. can create imagery in any imaginable style, or at least any style that an actual human has previously imagined."
"This week, New York mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo scaled a skyscraper, drove a subway train, and moonlighted as a Broadway stagehand-or at least you might think he had if you didn't read the fine print. Given that he launched his campaign with a man-on-the-street video in which he appeared to walk no more than a few city blocks, the 67-year-old's sudden willingness to hang off the side of a building for the sake of an eye-catching campaign ad would have been a striking development indeed,"
"Only a few days before Cuomo's ad dropped, Donald Trump posted a deepfake of himself talking about the nonexistent technology known as "medbeds" to his Truth Social account, which he has frequently used to recirculate A.I.-generated content. As the tech journalist Charlie Warzel put it last year, "The GOP is becoming the party of AI slop." That makes using generative A.I. imagery in documentary filmmaking especially fraught."
Andrew Cuomo released a 30-second campaign ad showing him scaling a skyscraper, driving a subway train, and working as a Broadway stagehand, with small text disclosing it was 'created with the assistance of artificial intelligence.' His opponent Zohran Mamdani mocked the fakery. The images operate as a dog whistle to right-leaning supporters who view a Muslim socialist as an 'existential threat.' Generative A.I. can replicate many styles but often defaults to a kitschy hyperrealism that has become prominent in MAGA visual culture. Donald Trump has posted A.I.-generated deepfakes, and commentators warn that realistic A.I. imagery complicates documentary filmmaking.
Read at Slate Magazine
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