AI put Wes Moore and Dan Cox in a very unlikely — possibly illegal — embrace - thebanner.com

In June 2024, a synthetic image depicting Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Republican candidate Dan Cox in a warm embrace circulated on social media, sparking a debate over the use of generative AI in political discourse. The image, which placed the two rivals in the Governor’s Reception Room, was created to suggest that the Democratic governor was attempting to influence the Republican primary by boosting a candidate he preferred to face in the general election.

What happened

The image was produced by the campaign of Ed Hale Sr., who is competing against Dan Cox for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Andrew Brightwell, a spokesman for the Hale campaign, confirmed that the visual was created using a combination of Adobe Photoshop and artificial intelligence tools. Hale’s campaign published the image on social media to protest political advertisements run by Moore and the Maryland Democratic Party, which characterized Cox as being too conservative.

The incident has drawn significant legal and political scrutiny due to a new Maryland law that took effect on June 1, 2024. This legislation prohibits the use of deepfake images, audio, or video intended to influence a voter’s decision. The law defines prohibited material as content created with generative AI that provides a realistic but false depiction of a person. Violations of this statute can result in fines of up to $5,000 and a potential prison sentence of up to five years.

Brightwell defended the creation as political satire protected by the First Amendment, asserting that the campaign had no intention of misinforming voters. Conversely, the Cox campaign denounced the image as a deceptive deepfake and raised concerns regarding the state's new regulations on AI-generated content. The Maryland Democratic Party also condemned the usage of such technology to influence elections, while the Moore campaign declined to comment on the matter.