(The Center Square) – Josh Stein, supported by an ad parody just debuted against his opponent, leads a new gubernatorial poll for North Carolinians who don’t believe campaign ads much less use them as a source.
A governor’s race pitting the Democratic attorney general against Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has methodically gravitated in Stein’s favor as summer weeks baked toward this Sunday’s turn to fall.
Then came an advertisement fully-generated by artificial intelligence promoting Stein – believed to be the first of its kind in the state – from Democratic donor Todd Stiefel, originator of the political action committee Americans for Prosparody.
The poll results suggest how much it matters to voters is more likely to depend on ethics than content.
Stein leads Robinson 45.5%-39.2% in the Carolina Journal poll, conducted by Cygnal, released early Thursday. The pollster has released samplings this year in August (Stein by 4.4%), May (Robinson by 0.1%) and April (Robinson by 2%) with a definite trend that mirrors other polls.
The latest sampling was done Monday and Tuesday of 600 likely voters, and the margin of error is +/- 3.99%. Carolina Journal is a publication of the John Locke Foundation, a nonprofit research institute that envisions “liberty and limited, constitutional government” as cornerstones to society.
Libertarian Mark Ross garnered 2.4% support in the poll, the Green Party’s Wayne Turner received 0.3% and Vinny Smith of the Constitution Party was at 0.2%.
Respondents were asked two questions that tie to advertising. The first was: “What do you believe is the most reliable source of information?” and the second was “How truthful do you consider election ads to be?”
One of the 600 said campaign ads were the most reliable source. Trusting political ads is a mistake, the respondents said, with 65.9% choosing untruthful, 27.3% saying they can be trusted and 6.8% unsure.
According to published reports, the Stein campaign on Tuesday stayed with its February position saying use of artificial intelligence “is the wrong approach.” The earlier position was voiced because Stiefel had tried a parody website named Mark Rottenson.
Use of AI in a campaign ad does not violate state law. Critics question ethics, and Steifel told a Raleigh television station that parody is not misinformation.
Democrat Hillary Clinton, former first lady and U.S. secretary of state, in an MSNBC interview on Monday said civil or criminal charges are justified for sharing political misinformation. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in three laws this week, including banning use of AI to create and circulate false images and videos. Litigation has already ensued.
In an Elon University poll released in May, only 5% said using AI will help the election process. AI & Politics ’24 found 78% believe it is likely artificial intelligence would be abused to impact the outcome between President Joe Biden, who was still in the race at the time, and former President Donald Trump.