The Great Debate: Is AI in campaigning an unfair advantage or legitimate innovation?

CNN commentator José Eduardo Cardozo and former senator and journalist Ana Amélia Lemos debated, on Friday (10), in O Grande Debate (from Monday to Friday, at 11pm), about the "2026 elections: is AI in the campaign an unfair advantage or legitimate innovation?"

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) campaign in the 2026 presidential elections will limit the use of artificial intelligence. According to investigations, Lula had told people close to him that he did not intend to respond with the same language used by opponents who use technology to produce fictitious content.

The decision gained strength after the circulation of materials produced with AI by political opponents. This week, Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) shared a video generated by technology in which he appears piloting a fighter plane on a mission to locate Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, the president's son.

Members of the PT leadership claim that the party does not reject artificial intelligence as a whole. The caption differentiates the use of technology as an editing and content improvement tool from the production of fake news, deepfakes and videos that simulate unreal situations. The strategy also coincides with an offensive that the party is preparing in the Electoral Court to defend stricter rules for the use of AI in campaigns.

Debate on the risks of AI in the electoral process
José Eduardo Cardozo assessed that artificial intelligence is "a double-edged sword". For him, technology can be used both for positive purposes and for the production of fake news, dialogues that never existed and advertising situations that "completely deviate from common sense, truth and reality".

Cardozo defended the decision to limit the use of AI in the campaign and criticized content such as Flávio Bolsonaro's video, classifying it as something that "tends to ridicule" and "demonstrates against the mature debate that should mark a democracy".

Cardozo also warned of the risk of manipulating the electorate with false content produced on the eve of the election. For him, in addition to sanctioning and preventive mechanisms, it is necessary to "awaken society's critical consciousness" so as not to consume false content produced by technology.

Is the Electoral Court prepared to regulate AI?
Ana Amélia Lemos highlighted the difficulty of distinguishing, in everyday life, a production generated by artificial intelligence from reality. "It is very difficult in ordinary life to distinguish a production by artificial intelligence from the real to the imaginary", he stated.

She questioned whether the Brazilian Electoral Court would be sufficiently prepared to identify, in a timely manner, the excesses committed with the use of technology during campaigns, without violating the principle of freedom of expression.

Ana Amélia argued that the Electoral Court needs to anticipate and find legal instruments to combat what she classified as the "criminal" use of artificial intelligence in campaigns. "It won't solve the problem at the time the crime happened," he warned. She also highlighted the voter's responsibility in this scenario: "The vote has consequences, and that is what Brazilian voters need to realize."

The texts generated by artificial intelligence on CNN Brasil are made based on video cuts from the newspapers in its programming. All information is investigated and checked by journalists. The final text is also reviewed by the CNN journalism team. Click here to find out more.

Source: CNN