Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan slams ad for using "AI deepfake"

Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota's lieutenant governor and current U.S. Senate candidate, is slamming an attack ad against her for "using an AI deepfake."

The ad is from North Star Dawn, a PAC supporting Congresswoman Angie Craig, who's running against Flanagan for the DFL nomination. North Star Dawn is not associated with Craig or any other candidate. A spokesperson for Craig said she does not support the use of AI in political ads. 

Jerid Kurtz, a spokesperson for the PAC, called Flanagan's allegations baseless. 

"We'll continue to follow every federal and state law while telling Minnesotans that Flanagan's special interest group is spending millions in corporate dollars to get her elected," Kurtz said in a statement to WCCO.

Minnesota does have a law on the books regulating AI deepfakes to try and prevent the technology from influencing elections. The legislation passed during the 2023-2024 legislative session thanks to a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

The law says the deepfake would have to be "so realistic that a reasonable person would believe it depicts speech or conduct of an individual who did not in fact engage in such speech or conduct."

Per the law, deepfakes are in violation if it's: 

• It's made without the consent of the depicted individual.
• It's made with the intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election.
• It takes place either within 90 days before a political party nominating convention, or after the start of the absentee voting period prior to a presidential nomination primary, or a regular or special state or local primary or general election.

Dr. Manjeet Rege, a professor who oversees the University of St. Thomas' Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence, says deepfakes are becoming harder to detect. 

"AI-generated content is becoming so realistic that even for experts it takes awhile for them to actually figure out what is real and what is fake," Rege said. 

He shared some ways to spot AI deepfakes. 

"Watch the edges of the face and the hairline," Rege said. "Also, spot something in the background, which might look a little bit different."