Scott Wiener's AI chatbot campaign ad targeting Connie Chan removed after backlash
California state Senator Scott Wiener's campaign created an AI chatbot parody of congressional rival Connie Chan to criticize her record on housing and transit. After prominent Democrats including Nancy Pelosi condemned the tactic as sexist and racist for putting words in a woman of color's mouth, Wiener's campaign removed the chatbot and supporting billboards.
What happened
Scott Wiener's campaign created ConnieChan.ai, an AI chatbot parody of his congressional rival Connie Chan, to criticize her record on housing, public transportation, and other issues.
The campaign promoted the chatbot through billboards directing voters to it. After a backlash, Wiener announced Friday that his campaign would remove the chatbot and the advertisements.
Reported impact
Nancy Pelosi and a coalition of Democratic politicians and organizations condemned the use of artificial intelligence to imitate Chan, objecting to 'artificial intelligence putting words in our mouths' on a woman of color.
Critics said the chatbot was sexist and racist because it put words in the mouth of a woman of color. Wiener acknowledged the tactic had backfired and said the controversy overshadowed the issues he wanted voters to focus on.
Index analysis
The chatbot imitated a political candidate by generating statements attributed to her without her consent or control, raising concerns about the use of AI to misrepresent political figures.
Critics noted the targeting of a woman of color through a technology designed to put artificial words in her mouth, connecting the incident to broader concerns about discriminatory AI use in political campaigning.
Governance controls
Wiener's campaign responded to the backlash by removing the chatbot and billboards, acknowledging that the use of the AI tool 'clearly missed the mark.' Wiener later apologized to people who were offended by the tactic.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.