Are these AI-generated ads slamming Jennifer Jenkins and Jared Moskowitz the future of campaigning?

A new advertisement depicts U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz in a playpen on the U.S. House floor wearing a diaper and a bib emblazoned with his name.

With fingers in his ears, the Congressman, reduced to toddler age by video technology, scrunches his face as a narrator complains: “Baby Jared’s having another tantrum.”

Depicting the Parkland Democrat penned within the halls of Congress, the images, quite obviously, weren’t shot by a camera crew in Washington, D.C. Rather, artificial intelligence rendered the photorealistic imagery to look like an infantilized Moskowitz, with the 45-year-old Congressman’s head superimposed atop a toddler’s body.

Moskowitz, who stands 5 feet, 4 inches, hears jabs about his stature regularly enough.

“Lol,” he texted back when given a link to the video, before brushing off the low attention around the ad.

“52 likes. I almost feel bad. But at least they got the size correct.”

He saw the ad three hours after the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) premiered the 24-second spot in its X feed. Views escalated modestly since. But this accompanying animation illustrates new ways that AI may shape campaign narratives this year.

For now, the RPOF hasn’t devoted any spending to expand the ad’s online reach. But this is the second time this month RPOF officials used AI technology to generate attack ads against a Democratic congressional candidate .

The first targeted Jennifer Jenkins, and more hits will likely come soon

“As seen in grassroots campaign of Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt based on social media ads he has created, the Republican Party of Florida is testing out new ways to reach out to voters throughout the state of Florida using satirical AI-generated ads and will follow all applicable state laws as it relates to that,” reads a statement provided to Florida Politics from the RPOF.

For now, the videos enjoy no paid promotion as leaders test their organic reach. That could change soon. But they do reach into questions about the use of AI-generated images of real people.

Of note, both ads so far include disclosures on screen making clear they were “created in whole or in part with the use of generative artificial intelligence.” That complies with a law passed by Florida’s Legislature in 2024.

“Quite a few states are passing measures requiring disclosure of AI, particularly in political ads,” said Ed Longe, Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the James Madison Institute.

In the case of Pratt, a former reality television star-turned-conservative politician, he generated significant media attention producing ads using AI to attack incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and promote himself as an alternative in the California municipal race.

The political world took notice as the humorous spots attracted millions of views, and a new poll commissioned by the Los Angeles Times shows Pratt with 22% support to Bass’ 26% and progressive candidate Nithya Rama’s 25%, showing him as a contender for a runoff.

It remains to be seen if Florida Republicans can garner the same attention. The Moskowitz ad remains new, but the Jenkins hit since May 12 garnered just 33 likes as of Thursday and had been viewed around 4,700 times on X.

That ad pokes fun at Jenkins, a Space Coast Democrat, for shifting her candidacy over the last year she announced plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos, an Indian Harbour Beach Republican, in Florida’s 8th Congressional District. The ad shows Jenkins tossing over chairs marked with the various offices she pursued.

“First, it was School Board. Then, U.S. Senate. Then, Randy Fine’s district. Now, CD 8,” a narrator states. “Sorry, Jumpin’ Jenkins. Game over.” An elephant then stampedes into frame and chases Jenkins from a circus tent.

Jenkins days later discussed the ad in a speech to a Democratic women’s group.

“The Republicans are panicked. They are so scared that they literally made an ad about me and they called me ‘Jumpin’ Jenkins,’” she said.

“Listen, they can call me ‘Jumpin’ Jenkins’ all they want, because if they think Florida women are just going to sit still while they take away our rights, while they attack our public schools, while they make life harder for working families, maybe we all just need to start jumping.”

Of course, part of the appeal of the production process is it takes little in time or resources to make these spots. While a typical political ad can take weeks to shoot and produce — one without new video typically takes a week — these AI ads took RPOF two days each to make. Lower-quality ads could be produced even quicker.

These were generated with a focus on humor. While they include photorealistic imagery, it’s unlikely that anyone would mistake a shot of Jenkins being chased by a pachyderm or Moskowitz in a crib with a “Congressbaby” sign as authentic.

“The question you should ask is if a reasonable person would assume this is AI-generated,” Longe said. “In a lot of the images presented here, you can clearly see they are AI.”

That separates the ads from deepfakes, such as those used by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign in 2023, when AI-generated pictures of President Donald Trump embracing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci ended up in attacks.

Longe also noted that the societal environment rapidly changed in the last few years as AI became more accessible to the public. “Anyone can go onto Grok and generate an image,” he said. “This is not just the purview of a couple people now. We are in a different realm in that sense.”

But that also means ads could open a path to other rapidly produced content being used in Midterm campaigns. However, the ads also risk upsetting viewers increasingly skeptical of “AI slop” online.

“As AI becomes more prolific, people are also seeing a greater backlash against it,” Longe said. “The pendulum may swing against it.”