LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt reposts scathing AI-generated ad | Los Angeles
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt republished A scathing AI-generated ad on X on Tuesday that renders the city a bleak hellscape under its current leadership.
In the viral video by filmmaker Charlie Curran, flames engulf the Hollywood sign; a socialist militia patrols the streets; and California’s political brass, including governor Gavin Newsom, mayor Karen Bass and former vice president Kamala Harris, are portrayed as royal bourgeois with little concern for the plight of their subjects.
Then a hero emerges to save the day. This is Pratt, or at least a vigilante Batman-like version of him.
This repost came a day before Pratt was set to face off against his rivals in the mayoral race — incumbent Karen Bass and city council member Nithya Raman — in a debate.
For weeks, Pratt, a former reality TV star, has taken Bass and Raman to task on important issues like wildfire response, homelessness and public safety.
on April 19 to mailPratt wrote: “It’s easy for Karen Basura and Nithya Raman to claim that ‘crime is down’ when they stop enforcing crime. 60,000 open-air drug zombies commit multiple crimes every day.”
Bass and Raman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the AI video.
As of Wednesday, the clip reached 3.6 million views. Former Florida governor and 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush in the name “perhaps the best political ad of the year”.
It is unclear whether Curran, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is affiliated with Pratt’s campaign.
Political advertising expert Steve Caplan, who teaches at the University of Southern California, said campaign ads created by artificial intelligence may become widespread in the future. “They’re cheap and fast, and consultants hate spending money on production. You can start rapid response within hours,” he said.
The shock value and attention-grabbing nature of the Pratt AI video may not translate into voter turnout, according to Caplan.
First, workers in Hollywood, which is experiencing a manufacturing exodus, may be outraged by the promotion of artificial intelligence. He noted that Los Angeles is also a Democratic-majority city.
“There’s a pretty narrow base to work with in an election that’s going to be Democrats,” he said. “I am extremely skeptical of the idea that there are enough voters to tune in to that message to win an election like Los Angeles.”
