The clip, created with artificial‑intelligence tools, depicts Talarico in a lifelike manner holding a crayon and scribbling the phrase across a Bible page, while on‑screen text reads “James Talarico wrong for Texas” and “wrong for America” and a QR code invites donations for Paxton’s campaign.
Talarico condemned the video, telling NBC News that the ad “lies about a candidate in this race” and urging a ban on deep‑fake political ads, adding that such content “doesn’t add anything to our civic discourse” or help voters understand their choices.
The Paxton ad follows a similar AI‑generated clip released weeks earlier by a conservative nonprofit aligned with former President Donald Trump, which placed Talarico in a parody of Julie Andrews’s role in *The Sound of Music*, dressed in a jumper‑style bodice and singing “My Favorite Things.”
The surge in AI‑powered political advertising is reflected in a study by the Wesleyan Media Project, which has catalogued at least 164 AI‑generated or AI‑enhanced ads across federal, state and local races in 2026, costing just under $80 million – a figure the group says is likely an undercount.
Federal law does not require political ads to disclose the use of AI, leaving voters without a clear signal that a video has been synthetically created, a gap that experts say could erode confidence in legitimate campaign messaging.
Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, warned that the sheer volume of convincing deep‑fakes may cause the public to dismiss authentic content as fabricated, while Ilana Beller of Public Citizen warned that the mere knowledge of such technology’s capabilities can undermine trust in the broader election‑communication ecosystem.
Advocates note that AI tools lower production costs, eliminating the need for camera crews or actors, and can serve as a modern political cartoon, but scholars such as Scott Babwah Brennen of NYU caution that while the ads generate attention, there is little evidence they translate into electoral success and they may even backfire as public sentiment turns against AI‑driven negativity.