The Ethics of AI Deepfakes in Political Campaigns

I still remember scrolling one night and stumbling across a video of Donald Trump being shoved into a police car. The clip looked real, the shaky camera, the crowd shouting, even the police uniforms. My first thought was: Wait, when did this happen? It had millions of views across platforms, and everyone in the comments seemed to have an opinion.

But after reading more closely, I realized something unsettling: the video was a deepfake. It never happened.

That moment stuck with me, not because I believed it, but because of how many people did. Some comments treated it as breaking news. Others were outraged or celebrating. Either way, it shaped opinions before the truth even had a chance to catch up.

AI-generated deepfakes have blurred the line between truth and fabrication, and in politics, that line matters more than ever. Campaigns thrive on trust, and misinformation can tip the scales of public perception in seconds. A convincing fake video can spread faster than any fact-check ever could, and unlike a simple rumor, it comes with “proof” that looks real.

So where do we draw the line? Should AI tools be banned from campaign advertising altogether? Or is it up to platforms and us to recognize when something feels too cinematic to be true?

What I learned from that night is simple but important: in a world where anyone can generate reality, skepticism isn’t cynicism; it’s responsibility.