Poll Finds Voters Uncertain About AI-Generated Political Ads

Missoula, MT, October 14, 2026 —

A Scripps News poll found that 40% of U.S. voters surveyed said they had been fooled by AI-generated political ads this campaign season. Another 30% said they were uncertain whether political ads they had seen were authentic.

Together, the responses indicate that seven in 10 respondents either reported being misled by AI-generated ads or were unsure about the authenticity of ads they encountered. The poll also found that more than three-quarters of registered voters nationwide believe regulations are needed for the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising.

The findings point to two concerns among respondents: whether voters can identify AI-generated political material and whether rules should govern its use in advertising. The poll summary does not specify what kinds of regulations respondents support, or whether they were asked to distinguish among different forms of AI-generated content.

The available information also does not include the poll’s sample size, field dates, margin of error or specific question wording. Those details are needed to assess how the results were collected and how precisely they reflect the views of registered voters nationwide. The figures describe respondents’ reported experiences and opinions; the summary does not provide an independent measure of how many ads were AI-generated or how often voters misidentified them.

The poll offers a snapshot of voter responses during this campaign season. It does not identify particular ads, campaigns or political candidates, and no further details about the poll’s methodology or findings were provided.

Story summarized from the original created by Andrew Rafferty on www.kpax.com, see more information here.