Political Pros Weigh the Pros and Cons of AI

Artificial intelligence is embedding itself in the daily work of political consultants and campaigns. A recent survey released by the American Association of Political Consultants found that more than 8 in 10 political professionals use the tech at least a few times a week.

Still, industry professionals have questions about AI: how to best use it, how far to push it and what it means for the future of campaigning. Campaigns & Elections asked practitioners to share their candid thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of AI. Here are some takeaways:

Losing Control of the Narrative

For one Republican digital strategist, the rise of AI search tools remains a huge question mark for campaigns.

“How do we make sure our message – our narrative – is breaking through?” the strategist said.

In short, more and more people are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude with questions about politics. Google, meanwhile, is increasingly offering AI summaries to answer users’ inquiries. In turn, fewer voters are clicking on news articles, campaign websites or social media pages for information. They’re trusting the AI.

“People are going to ChatGPT to ask about politics. They’re Googling things and getting an AI summary,” the strategist said. “But getting an AI chatbot or an LLM to spit out the answer you want it to spit out is, I think, a big challenge that we’re all dealing with right now.”