Senate Committee Launches Investigation Into Algorithmic Political Advertising

A bipartisan Senate committee has launched a wide-ranging investigation into the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising, focusing on micro-targeting using psychological profiling derived from social media data.

Among the practices under scrutiny are synthetic media for political content, large language models for personalised voter outreach, and emotional vulnerability profiling.

“The question is not whether these tools are being used,” said the committee chair. “We know they are. The question is whether their use is compatible with the kind of informed deliberation that democracy requires.”