{"id":18917,"date":"2026-02-12T15:02:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/a-tech-group-is-launching-a-new-effort-to-keep-democrats-from-falling-behind-on-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:02:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:02:28","slug":"a-tech-group-is-launching-a-new-effort-to-keep-democrats-from-falling-behind-on-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/a-tech-group-is-launching-a-new-effort-to-keep-democrats-from-falling-behind-on-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"A tech group is launching a new effort to keep Democrats from falling behind on AI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Voters are already asking artificial intelligence chatbots about candidates, but campaigns don\u2019t yet know what those large language models might say about them or how to shape those answers \u2014 one of many AI-fueled campaign challenges a new Democratic-aligned tech group is hoping to solve.<\/p>\n

Tech for Campaigns, a political nonprofit focused on helping Democrats adopt better data and digital marketing techniques, is launching a new initiative called The Lab<\/a>, aiming to conduct experiments on how Democrats can use AI to win. The group says it is prepared to spend millions partnering with Democratic outside groups in key states and battleground races, with the hopes of helping the party make progress in an area they say it has so far neglected.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats have shown \u2026 they’re not willing to try new things. They wait too long and often are at a disadvantage,\u201d said Jessica Alter, board chair at Tech for Campaigns. \u201cWith how fast AI is moving, that disadvantage will compound and be very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campaigns across the political spectrum are grappling with how to take advantage of the rapidly evolving technology. Major Republican groups have embraced AI-generated content for ads<\/a> more than their Democratic counterparts in the past year, although some Democratic campaigns have used AI imagery. AI-generated ads tend to be less expensive<\/a> for campaigns, but strategists are still figuring out how voters feel about them \u2014 Rep. Jasmine Crockett\u2019s Senate campaign came under fire this week<\/a> amid online accusations that her latest ad featured an AI-generated crowd image, although her campaign said it \u201cwas created through hundreds of hours of real craft and collaboration between creatives and union labor\u201d without commenting on whether AI was also used.<\/p>\n

And ads are just one piece of the AI campaign blitz. Groups have rolled out AI initiatives on everything from writing fundraising emails to searching for opposition research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tech for Campaigns wants to go beyond those uses. Its plan is to partner with outside groups in key races to fund experiments on different uses of AI. Modeled after a Silicon Valley-style startup accelerator, the group plans to pair campaign groups with tech executives and commercial experts from companies including Netflix and Y Combinator..<\/p>\n

Each experiment is expected to take between two weeks and two months and cost between $50,000 and $150,000. Tech for Campaigns is inviting organizations to apply, and is hoping to conduct around 20 experiments this year. The results will be shared among Democrats widely, with the goal of more campaigns replicating tactics that work and avoiding those that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Among the challenges the group hopes to tackle: Shaping how candidates show up in output from large language models such as ChatGPT, a practice known as answer engine optimization. Outside researchers have found that AI chatbots can be effective at political persuasion<\/a>, with voters shifting their opinions on candidates or issues after a short conversation.<\/p>\n

Alter said campaigns need to ensure they are well-represented in chatbot results about them, lest the chatbot basing their response more on an opponent\u2019s research and messaging. While major companies are prioritizing shaping chatbots\u2019 response, she said, campaigns so far have been more hesitant to work on it.<\/p>\n

The group also hopes to study whether AI tools can help with personalized communication and how Democrats can make better use of platforms, such as Reddit, where the party has generally had less of a presence.<\/p>\n

Alter said Republicans have shown an advantage in recent years when it comes to adopting new technologies, from year-round digital advertising<\/a> to podcasts. The new initiative aims to make sure that GOP advantage does not extend to AI too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most powerful technological advancement of our time,\u201d Alter said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t think they’re gonna eschew it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A version of this article first appeared in Blue Light News Pro\u2019s Morning Score. Want to receive the newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to Blue Light News Pro. You\u2019ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day\u2019s biggest stories. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Voters are already asking artificial intelligence chatbots about candidates, but campaigns don\u2019t yet know what those large language models might say about them or how to shape those answers \u2014 one of many AI-fueled campaign challenges a new Democratic-aligned tech group is hoping to solve. Tech for Campaigns, a political nonprofit focused on helping Democrats […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18917\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}