Lawfare Archive: Will Generative AI Reshape Elections?

The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Institute

International Law, Government, Military, Rule Of Law, International Relations, History, News, Terrorism, Politics, Law, Intelligence, National Security, Foreign Policy, Constitutional Law, Diplomacy, Current Events

4.7 • 6.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From November 29, 2023: Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard a great deal over the last year about generative AI and how it’s going to reshape various aspects of our society. That includes elections. With one year until the 2024 U.S. presidential election, we thought it would be a good time to step back and take a look at how generative AI might and might not make a difference when it comes to the political landscape. Luckily, Matt Perault and Scott Babwah Brennen of the UNC Center on Technology Policy have a new report out on just that subject, examining generative AI and political ads.

On this episode of Arbiters of Truth, our series on the information ecosystem, Lawfare Senior Editor Quinta Jurecic and Lawfare’s Fellow in Technology Policy and Law Eugenia Lostri sat down with Matt and Scott to talk through the potential risks and benefits of generative AI when it comes to political advertising. Which concerns are overstated, and which are worth closer attention as we move toward 2024? How should policymakers respond to new uses of this technology in the context of elections?

To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Nearly every news alert in 2025 has raised questions, some old, some new, about the law and national security.
0:08.0	And now you get the chance to ask Lawfare directly. It's time for our annual Ask Us Anything Mailbag podcast, an opportunity for you to ask Lawfare this year's most burning questions.
0:19.0	You can submit your question by leaving a voicemail at
0:22.1	202-643-8474 or by sending a recording of yourself asking your question to Ask Us Anything Lawfare
0:32.8	at gmail.com by December 16th.
0:52.2	I'm Isabella Royal, Internet Lawfare, with an episode from the Lawfare Archive for November 15th, 2025.
0:59.0	Last Tuesday, November 4th, was Election Day in a number of state and municipal races across the United States, including two closely followed gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey and a high-profile mayoral election in New York City.
1:05.0	A few of these campaigns included visuals produced with artificial intelligence, including candidate John Reid's publication of an AI-generated debate with current Lieutenant Governor-elect Gazzala
1:15.6	Humshi in Virginia, and candidate Andrew Cuomo's choice to generate a widely criticized video called
1:21.6	Criminals for Mondani. For today's archive, I selected an episode from November 29,
1:26.6	2023, in which Quinta Juresec, Eugenia L'Olostri, Matt Berault,
1:31.4	and J. Scott Bobble Brennan discuss the risks and benefits of AI and political messaging,
1:36.4	the impact of AI ads on information ecosystems,
1:39.6	how policymakers might respond to political uses of generative AI, and more.
1:52.3	Music policymakers might respond to political uses of generative AI and more. I'm Quinta Jurecic, a senior editor at Lawfare,
1:56.0	and this is the Lawfare podcast, November 29th, 2003.
2:02.1	Today, we're bringing you an episode of Arbiters of Truth, or series on the information
2:06.4	ecosystem. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard a great deal over the last
2:11.8	year about generative AI and how it's going to reshape various aspects of our society.
2:17.5	That includes elections.
2:20.1	With one year until the 2024 U.S. presidential election,
2:24.0	we thought it would be a good time to step back
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Lawfare Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Lawfare Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.