How Ai Is Impacting The Media Election Information And Npr Illinois

Leo Migdal

-Dec 12, 2025, 10:18 AM

how ai is impacting the media election information and npr illinois

Artificial intelligence has permeated the tech sector, and more and more platforms are adding it to the user experience. Recently, Google integrated AI for basic searches. If you Google a question, an AI-generated text box pops up at the top of the page with an answer. Though technology reporter Kara Swisher says Google’s AI is becoming pretty accurate, it could hurt media companies. Offering the answer through AI dissuades people from clicking on news content, therefore slowing web traffic to media sites. That could lead to a drop in revenue, further hurting media companies struggling to survive in the digital age.

“It just sort of essentially scrapes information and re-presents it to you. There’s no need to go anywhere but Google,” Swisher says. “They become the all-answer. And at some point, this AI can make content of its own.” Some news companies are responding. The Financial Times will license its content; whenever it’s used by AI companies like ChatGPT, the company will get paid.

Others like the New York Times have filed lawsuits against AI companies. “You don’t have a choice in this way,” Swisher says. “You either sue them or deal with them.” A woman holds a American flag during a naturalization ceremony. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images hide caption A woman holds a American flag during a naturalization ceremony.

It's a technology that promises to bring radical change to many facets of our life – from the arts to healthcare and business. During the 2024 election season, experts warn it could also shake up the world of politics. We're talking about artificial intelligence. 2024 is the first presidential election with the powerful technology in play. Currently, there are few regulations about the use of AI in politics. Last month, the Federal Election Commission decided not to impose new rules on the tech ahead of the election.

That means it's fair game and it's being used as such. Raoul Encourages Voters to Visit Website for 2024 Voter Misinformation Guide; Offers Tips to Detect and Report Fake AI Election Content Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today released a 2024 Voter Misinformation Guide to help Illinois voters identify and report election misinformation generated by artificial intelligence (AI), which is increasingly being used to create... Raoul explained the AI-generated content can include misleading videos, images or audio that can impersonate people or candidates, which cause confusion or even dissuade people from voting. “The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights we have as Americans, and voters deserve to have accurate information about the important choices they make on their ballots,” Raoul said. “As the general election draws nearer, I’m reminding Illinoisans to be vigilant about election misinformation and election-related financial fraud.

Don’t let scammers steal your vote, your identity or your hard-earned dollars. Use reliable sources to educate yourself on your ballot choices and make your plan to vote.” AI-generated election misinformation is deployed through social media platforms, robocalls, text messages and chatbots that can quickly spread false information. For instance, fake, AI-generated audio of political candidates has been used in attempts to deter voters around the country from going to the polls in previous elections. AI-generated pictures falsely depicting celebrities endorsing or condemning a particular political candidate or cause are also shared widely across social media. Norman Eisen, Renée Rippberger, Jonathan Katz

Renée Rippberger, Rachel Beatty Riedl, Jonathan Katz, Paul Friesen, Noam Lupu, Marie Miller, Caroline Macneill, Randi Wright, Alexandra Rumford Nature volume 648, pages 394–401 (2025)Cite this article There is great public concern about the potential use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) for political persuasion and the resulting impacts on elections and democracy1,2,3,4,5,6. We inform these concerns using pre-registered experiments to assess the ability of large language models to influence voter attitudes. In the context of the 2024 US presidential election, the 2025 Canadian federal election and the 2025 Polish presidential election, we assigned participants randomly to have a conversation with an AI model that advocated... We observed significant treatment effects on candidate preference that are larger than typically observed from traditional video advertisements7,8,9.

We also document large persuasion effects on Massachusetts residents’ support for a ballot measure legalizing psychedelics. Examining the persuasion strategies9 used by the models indicates that they persuade with relevant facts and evidence, rather than using sophisticated psychological persuasion techniques. Not all facts and evidence presented, however, were accurate; across all three countries, the AI models advocating for candidates on the political right made more inaccurate claims. Together, these findings highlight the potential for AI to influence voters and the important role it might play in future elections. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription Artificial intelligence has permeated the tech sector, and more and more platforms are adding it to the user experience. Recently, Google integrated AI for basic searches. If you Google a question, an AI-generated text box pops up at the top of the page with an answer. Though technology reporter Kara Swisher says Google’s AI is becoming pretty accurate, it could hurt media companies. Offering the answer through AI dissuades people from clicking on news content, therefore slowing web traffic to media sites.

That could lead to a drop in revenue, further hurting media companies struggling to survive in the digital age. “It just sort of essentially scrapes information and re-presents it to you. There’s no need to go anywhere but Google,” Swisher says. “They become the all-answer. And at some point, this AI can make content of its own.” Some news companies are responding.

The Financial Times will license its content; whenever it’s used by AI companies like ChatGPT, the company will get paid. Others like the New York Times have filed lawsuits against AI companies. “You don’t have a choice in this way,” Swisher says. “You either sue them or deal with them.” The run-up to the 2024 election was marked by predictions that artificial intelligence could trigger dramatic disruptions. The worst-case scenarios — such as AI-assisted large-scale disinformation campaigns and attacks on election infrastructure — did not come to pass.

However, the rise of AI-generated deepfake videos, images, and audio misrepresenting political candidates and events is already influencing the information ecosystem. Over time, the misuse of these tools is eroding public trust in elections by making it harder to distinguish fact from fiction, intensifying polarization, and undermining confidence in democratic institutions. Understanding and addressing the threats that AI poses requires us to consider both its immediate effects on U.S. elections and its broader, long-term implications. Incidents such as robocalls to primary voters in New Hampshire that featured an AI-generated impersonation of President Biden urging them not to vote captured widespread attention, as did misinformation campaigns orchestrated by chatbots like... Russian operatives created AI-generated deepfakes of Vice President Kamala Harris, including a widely circulated video that falsely portrayed her as making inflammatory remarks, which was shared by tech billionaire Elon Musk on X.

Separately, a former Palm Beach County deputy sheriff, now operating from Russia, collaborated in producing and disseminating fabricated videos, including one falsely accusing vice-presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of assault. Similar stories emerged around elections worldwide. In India’s 2024 general elections, AI-generated deepfakes that showed celebrities criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and endorsing opposition parties went viral on platforms such as WhatsApp and YouTube. During Brazil’s 2022 presidential election, deepfakes and bots were used to spread false political narratives on platforms including WhatsApp. While no direct, quantifiable impact on election outcomes has been identified, these incidents highlight the growing role of AI in shaping political discourse.

The spread of deepfakes and automated disinformation can erode trust, reinforce political divisions, and influence voter perceptions. These dynamics, while difficult to measure, could have significant implications for democracy as AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated and pervasive. The long-term consequences of AI-driven disinformation go beyond eroding trust — they create a landscape where truth itself becomes contested. As deepfakes and manipulated content grow more sophisticated, bad actors can exploit the confusion, dismissing real evidence as fake and muddying public discourse. This phenomenon, sometimes called the liar’s dividend, enables anyone — politicians, corporations, or other influential figures — to evade accountability by casting doubt on authentic evidence. Over time, this uncertainty weakens democratic institutions, fuels disengagement, and makes societies more vulnerable to manipulation, both from domestic actors and foreign adversaries

First there was fake news on social media. Now, there’s AI, and its power to shape American politics. “It is offering new ways of spreading disinformation, like the audio and video content, especially, but it’s mostly just turbocharging existing efforts and making it a lot cheaper and easier,” Nicole Gill, co-founder and... AI has the power to make audio and videos of people saying anything their creators want. As the 2024 presidential election approaches, several states are trying to pass laws to stop the spread of deceitful AI generated political content. But very few have been able to do so.

How Ai Is Impacting The Media Election Information And Npr Illinois

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