What to know about the use of AI by a Trump advisor to support conservatives

Brad Parscale, who was elevated to oversee the 2020 campaign, was the digital wizard responsible for Donald Trump’s unexpected win in the 2016 election. However, he was fired from that position soon after, as his private life fell apart in the spotlight and he texted a friend to say he felt “guilty” for backing Trump in the wake of the Capitol riots.

Since then, he has developed into an advocate for the use of AI to revolutionise the way Republicans conduct political campaigns. Additionally, his business is supporting Trump’s quest for president in 2024 in an effort to assist the presumed Republican nominee in unseating Democratic President Joe Biden.

BRAND-NEW AI-POWERED CAMPAIGNS
Campaign Nucleus, Parscale’s startup, claims to be able to leverage AI to help create personalised emails, process massive amounts of data to determine voter sentiment, and identify people who may be won over. An Associated Press study of Parscale’s public pronouncements, his firm paperwork, presentation decks, marketing materials, and other information not before made public revealed that it may also magnify the social media posts of “anti-woke” personalities.

Parscale claims that his business will soon release an app that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help campaigns gather absentee ballots in a manner similar to how drivers for DoorDash or Grubhub pick up and deliver dinners to clients.

From unsure to confident in Trump
When Parscale was brought on to create a website for Trump’s family business, he was a comparatively obscure web designer in San Antonio, Texas.

Consequently, he was hired for the incoming president’s 2016 campaign. As one of its initial employees, he led an unconventional digital approach, collaborating with scandal-plagued Cambridge Analytica to assist Trump’s ascent to the presidency.

“I basically used Facebook to help Trump win the election in 2016,” Parscale stated in a podcast interview from 2022.

Shortly after Trump became enraged during a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that drew a surprisingly tiny audience, Parscale was dismissed as campaign manager.

PART OF THE 2024 CAMPAIGN
Campaign finance documents reveal that the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, and its associated political action and fundraising organisations have paid Campaign Nucleus and other Parscale-affiliated businesses more than $2.2 million since last year.

When the AP questioned Parscale about his work for the Trump campaign, he remained silent. While Trump has referred to artificial intelligence as “so scary” and “dangerous,” his campaign has refrained from emphasising Parscale’s involvement and claimed in an email that it did not “engage or utilise” technologies provided by any AI business.

Campaign finance documents reveal that businesses associated with Parscale have received payment to host websites, send emails, provide software for fundraising, and offer digital advice.

AI is also being used by Democrats and the Biden campaign. As of right now, they have stated that their main goals in using technology are to locate and inspire voters as well as to more effectively recognise and combat misleading material.

LINKS TO A SUCCESSFUL GOP DONOR
Parscale purchased real estate in Midland, Texas, last year, in the centre of the oil and gas fields that produce the most in the country. In addition, Tim Dunn, a rich born-again evangelical and one of the most significant political fundraisers in the state, hails from there.

Dunn put $5 million into AiAdvertising, a business that had previously acquired one of Parscale’s companies under a different corporate name, in April of last year. Additionally, the San Antonio-based advertising agency said that Parscale would be joining as a strategic consultant, with a salary of $10,000 per month and $120,000 in shares.

“Wham!” Parscale sent out a tweet. “Finally, all of the technologies utilised in the world-changing 2016 election were automated with AI advertising.”

Two significant national players have joined the board of AiAdvertising: Texas financier Thomas Hicks Jr., a former RNC co-chair and frequent hunting partner of Donald Trump Jr., and former GOP congressman Jim Renacci. Dunn donated AiAdvertising an extra $2.5 million in January through an investment business. According to a press release from AiAdvertising, the money would help the company “create more engaging, higher-impact campaigns.”

THE VISION OF PARSCALE
Parscale periodically provides sneak peeks at the AI world he imagines. Posing as an outsider to the Republican establishment, he has stated that he views artificial intelligence (AI) as a means of competing with wealthy Washington strategists, whom he has called political parasites.

Parscale stated that their movement required “our own AI, from creative large language models and creative imagery, we need to reach our own audiences with our own distribution, our own email systems, our own texting systems, our own ability to place TV ads, and lastly we need to have our own influencers” to a group of people gathered at a grassroots Christian event in a Pasadena, California, church in January.