As Hochul Posts AI Images of Herself, She Aims to Ban the Tech in Political Attack Ads

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Story by Walter Wuthmann/WNYC/New York Public News Network

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for a ban on artificial intelligence-generated campaign ads targeting political rivals — while using the tech to promote herself.

Take her recent “Wrath of Kath” political tour poster, where the AI-generated likeness of the governor in a black leather jacket points at the audience while touting her “tough on crime” policies. Or the satirical image of a bare-armed, machine gun-toting Hochul as Rambo from her January State of the State address.

So it raised some eyebrows last month when the governor proposed a blanket ban on the use of AI in opposition campaign ads.

“ The cliché is that most people believe in free speech for me, but not for thee,” said former ACLU President Nadine Strossen, now a senior fellow at the  Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “The proposal is blatantly unconstitutional.”

Hochul’s proposed ban comes as New York and the nation reckon with exponential leaps in AI in recent years. Those developments have raised concerns, including data centers straining electric grids and AI potentially wiping out whole categories of jobs.

The governor’s office pointed to several examples of the damaging use of AI in politics in laying out her plan. In 2024, former state Assemblymember Keith Wright of Harlem was apparently caught on a hot mic during a profanity-laced rant against a colleague, only for Wright to say it was the work of AI-savvy fraudsters.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign last year put out an AI-generated social media video depicting now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani eating rice with his hands while his supporters shoplifted, sold drugs and drove drunk. The Cuomo campaign quickly took it down after public backlash, saying the video was posted in error.

A spokesperson said Hochul’s recent AI images were not part of a campaign ad, so they wouldn’t be banned under the new proposal. State election laws currently require campaigns to disclose when they use AI, but do not limit how the technology can be used.

“Governor Hochul’s proposal targets one thing — malicious deep fakes that impersonate real people with fabricated audio or video to influence elections, and builds on existing protections against fraud and harassment,” Hochul spokesperson Kristin Devoe said in a statement. “Any suggestion that it would jail comedians and advocates or criminalize free speech is ridiculous.”

Civil liberties groups argue much of what Hochul appears to be trying to stop is already illegal. Falsely impersonating someone is a crime, as are forgery and fraud.

And while some may find AI campaign videos distasteful, “offensive speech is constitutionally protected,” said Strossen, who wrote a book on defending pornography. “That is as true for AI-generated offensive speech as it is for offensive speech via the human voice.”

Advocates say there are also issues of access to AI tools.

Benji Federman, chair of the Broome County Republican Committee, said the tech allows candidates with fewer resources to create important campaign materials like social media ads and event invitations. But in a blue state like New York, “ our Republican candidates may not necessarily be able to afford the same services and consultants that a well-funded Democrat might be able to afford,” he said.

The state Legislature will consider Hochul’s proposed ban as part of the larger budget process. The statutory deadline for finalizing the state budget is April 1, but in recent years negotiations have extended weeks past that date.

In the meantime, that means candidates — and maybe Hochul herself — can keep posting as much AI-generated campaign slop as they’d like.

Image: An AI-generated image of Gov. Kathy Hochul as Rambo. (Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office)