We’ve written previously about how to use AI more effectively to campaign, how to find out what AI is saying about you, and even how to shape what voters see when they use AI. But with so much of the media focus on deepfakes and their potential to cause chaos in the midterms, campaigns are also worried about AI being used against them.
As the tools to create fake video, images, and audio become better and more accessible, what can a campaign do? It’s simply not possible to prevent a motivated bad actor from generating a deepfake. What you can do is make that fake obvious to the supporters, voters, and influencers who do matter.
Show Up Consistently
The best defense against a deepfake isn’t technical at all. Publishing real content from your campaign consistently teaches supporters what you actually sound like. If you only post twice a month, voters don’t have anything to measure a fake against. Deepfakes “work” when there’s a vacuum to fill. When voters know the real candidate, a fake clips become obvious.
Build Your Home Base
When a questionable clip starts circulating, where would a voter or journalist turn? Your website, your email list, and your verified social media accounts. But if those are inactive and rarely used, the fake has nothing to compete against. The more you own and control your own story online, the harder is for anyone to define you in your absence.
Use AI, Stay Human
This doesn’t mean you should avoid using AI. Your campaign should be using AI to make more content and more types of content. Turn videos into social clips with captions. Transform an op-ed into social posts and emails. But the core has to be human. AI helps with the volume.
Prepare Your Proof
Tech companies are embracing a standard called Content Credentials (C2PA) that adds a tamper-evident record inside a digital photo or video so you can prove a real file is real. Google’s Pixel 10 is the first smartphone to do this automatically and most Sony and Nikon cameras sign at the moment of capture. The iPhone doesn't do this yet, and Apple hasn't committed to building it in – so for now, iPhone users who want a signed file need a third-party app. For now, anyone can check a file for free at ContentCredentials.org.
Conclusion
There’s no shortcut for beating AI impersonation. It takes the exact same hard work a campaign needs to be doing to earn a voter’s trust. A campaign that’s present day in and day out builds a brand. When voters come to learn the genuine article, they won’t be fooled by a fake.