AI-generated political images raise ethics questions

NAPOLEON — A campaign mailer, created and dispersed by Friends of Craig Riedel, showing Riedel's political opponent, Jim Hoops standing with three people dressed in drag is raising questions about the ethics of using "deepfake" imagery in political campaigns. The original photo shows Hoops with Ohio Rep. Roy Klopfenstein, Oakwood Mayor Josh Duslak and Hoops' partner Deborah. Both Hoops and Riedel are in the running for the Republican nomination in the Ohio Senate's First District. Current district Sen. Rob McColley is term-limited and unable to run for reelection. In a statement, Hoops' campaign accused Riedel of relying on personal attacks rather than differences on policy in its messaging. "These kinds of deceptive tactics don't reflect the standards people expect from public service in Northwest Ohio," Hoops said in the statement. "Voters deserve campaigns focused on solutions, not misleading or manipulated imagery." NBC News reported in March that altered images are consistently appearing in political ads. AI-created images have been used in races at every level of government across the country. "In state, local and federal elections across the country, AI has been everywhere from school board campaigns to governor's races, used to enhance speech, turn politicians into cartoons or, in one notable case in Massachusetts, mimic a rival politician's voice," the reporting states. Ohio has no law prohibiting the use of altered images in political ads, however legislation was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives in March 2025 by locally-based Rep. Ty Mathews, R-Findlay, and Rep. Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, that would prohibit "unauthorized use of an individual's persona." It was referred to the technology and innovation committee. The Courier asked Riedel's campaign whether Riedel knew the image was altered and whether he had a response to Hoops' Tuesday statement. Campaign spokesperson Josh Reynolds did not respond to those questions but issued a statement accusing Hoops of attempting to distract voters from what the campaign called a "disgraceful vote." "The only thing that's dishonest is Jim Hoops' pathetic attempt to distract from his failure to protect our daughters and granddaughters," the statement reads. "In 2021, the Ohio House successfully adopted a provision to ban men from competing in women's sports. Unfortunately Jim Hoops stood with every House Democrat in opposition to this urgently needed legislation. Now he's flip flopped on the issue and is trying to distract voters from the truth of his disgraceful vote." According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 29 states have enacted laws regulating computer-generated media in political campaigns. Minnesota and Texas prohibit political deepfakes within a certain number of days before an election, while 27 other states require disclosures stating when AI-generated content is used. No such disclosure appeared on the altered image of Hoops. At the federal level, Congress passed the TAKE IT DOWN act in April 2025, prohibiting the distribution of harmful and explicit images. Earlier this month, James Strahler, 37, of Columbus, became the first person in the nation convicted under the law after pleading guilty to cybercrimes in federal court, which included posting "real and AI-generated sexually explicit images and threats of violence to numerous victims," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Ohio.