Artificial intelligence infiltrates French political campaigns

French political parties are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence into their electoral strategies, beyond just creating visuals for social media. A survey shows that 27% of respondents plan to use AI to learn about municipal candidates' programs. Concrete examples illustrate this trend, from AI-generated campaign posters to fully artificial videos.

Mohamed Tlamsi, a candidate leading the Europe Égalité Écologie list for the March 15 and 22 municipal elections in Périgny-sur-Yerres (Val-de-Marne), created all his campaign posters using artificial intelligence. He fully embraces this method and addresses ecological impact criticisms on Instagram: “The challenge (…) is to put intelligence, human and artificial, at the service of the general interest.”

The Renaissance party took a further step on January 7 by announcing an investment in an AI-based digital strategy ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Victor Cohen, former head of the party's digital tools, was appointed director of the “technologies and innovations” division. Renaissance has signed an agreement with a specialized AI company, whose name remains confidential.

As early as June 2024, during the early legislative elections, the far-right party Reconquête! adopted the tool. Its president, Éric Zemmour, boasted on X about creating the “first entirely AI-generated French political video.” These images highlight his recurring themes: immigration, security, and economic decline.

A July 4, 2024, report by the NGO AIForensics notes that the use of generative AI during the legislative campaign was predominantly by far-right parties.

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