BattlegroundAI: How AI-generated election advertising will help Democrats
BattlegroundAI is an AI startup from Denver (USA) and promises to make it easier to create and distribute underfunded progressive political campaigns. With the help of generative AI, “hundreds of ads in minutes” can be created in a very short time, the website says. The aim is to support the Democrats in the election campaign. For now, BattlegroundAI only offers text creation – no AI images or audio, users go through a kind of questionnaire in which they define the target group and content.
“Political campaigns with progressive goals”
AI is already being used around the world to push or discredit politicians, sometimes spreading false information and deepfakes. But that’s not all, because AI startups can also operate legally and offer their services for the broad creation of campaigns in the US election campaign – BattlegroundAI is an example of this.
The startup is positioning its AI text generation tool specifically for progressive campaigns – “no MAGA types allowed,” it says. This means people who support the political movement and brand image associated with the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan used by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign. In other words, supporters of conservative or right-wing political positions.
Big ambitions regarding the US election
The private beta version was launched just seven weeks ago and was made available to the general public last week. As the US online media Wired reports, BattlegroundAI co-founder and CEO Maya Hutchinson actively promoted her startup at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). So far, the startup claims to have gained 60 customers. BattlegroundAI’s service offers a freemium model with an extended option for $19 per month.
AI should bring structure and address specific target groups
The tool’s purpose is also to bring structure to political campaigns. CEO Maya Hutchinson said: “If you’re running ads on Facebook or Google or developing YouTube scripts, we help you do that in a very structured way.”
The process works like this: Users can choose from five different language models in the user interface to generate texts, including ChatGPT, Anthropic, and Claude. The tone and level of creativity can also be adjusted, as well as the number of desired variations of an input. BattlegroundAI will try to create messages for specific target groups. Campaigns can be created for pre-selected topics such as infrastructure, women’s health, climate change, and public safety.
No labeling of AI-generated content
BattlegroundAI does not publish ads automatically, but always has them reviewed and approved by humans in advance. However, the lack of labeling has been heavily criticized by both experts and society. For example, the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI) conducted a survey in 2024 that showed that 64 percent of voters in the US want to know when political advertising is produced with AI, with 73 percent of Democrats voting in favor. The Federal Communications Commission also believes that the use of AI in radio and television advertising should be disclosed.
Andy Barr, managing director of campaign and media consulting firm Uplift, told Wired about BattlegroundAI’s tool that generative AI tools are also known to “hallucinate,” and wondered how Hutchinson ensures that false content is not invented.
Self-test: Creating political campaigns
Trending Topics tested the new tool and had BattlegroundAI create a campaign. As an example, the target group chosen was female founders in Bulgaria with a focus on education. This selection is for illustrative purposes only. The results from BattlegroundAI include the following campaign claims:
Title: Empower Your Future with Education
Subtitle: Invest in Your Potential
Body: Education opens doors.
or
Title: Transform Lives Through Learning
Subtitle: Invest in Education
Body: Education changes lives.
