How AI has helped a former reality TV star become a contender for L.A. mayor

It's a raw dystopian gap shot — the famous Hollywood ratify aroused, as Los Angeles burns under the villainous leadership of an 18th century French aristocrat, digitally rendered as California Governor Gavin Newsom, and a Joker-looking L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

To the rescue, however, comes Spencer Pratt, current L.A. Mayoral candidate and former reality TV star villain, donning Batman-like garb (and an SP utility belt to boot) to rush in and save the city.

These scenes are all part of an AI generated video, hailed by former Florida governor and one-time presidential candidate Jeb Bush as "maybe the best political ad of the year," that some observers believe has made Pratt a serious contender.

Of course its impossible to say whether Pratt's current attention will translate to votes in November. But some experts suggest the AI videos mark a new era in political campaigns.

"Spencer Pratt's AI ads mark an important watershed in how AI is changing campaigning, and they underline just how poorly experts ... Have forecasted how AI would play out in politics," Andy Hall, professor of political economy at Stanford University and an AI expert posted on X.

WATCH: AI generated ad promoting Spencer Pratt for L.A. Mayor:

LA is worth saving. Vote Spencer Pratt. <a href="https://t.co/GpQpnfsuJe">pic.twitter.com/GpQpnfsuJe</a>

In another viral video, this time with a Star Wars-themed, Pratt is depicted as a lightsaber-wielding Jedi Knight, taking on Darth Vader Bass and Emperor Newsom.

The iconic superhero imagery in both videos is presumably used without permission in a way a traditional campaign couldn't get away with. But that's also why it's grabbing people.

"The key with that is that it's so easy to digest," said Karen North, a communications professor at USC Annenberg and expert in digital and social media.

With the AI videos, voters don't have to understand each issue and each candidate's position on an issue, or the feasibility of their promises, North said. "Instead, people look at this and go, 'Oh, I get it. 
Hero and villain.'"

The videos were actually created by filmmaker Charles Curran and Pratt has denied that his campaign was involved. But he has certainly taken advantage of their popularity, reposting them from his own accounts.

Hall said that experts, including himself, had previously warned that the effect of AI on campaigning would be deepfakes — the creation of ads meant to deceive and misrepresent a political opponent. Instead, candidates like Pratt are now using AI "to evoke emotion, get attention, provoke, and be funny."

Before entering the mayoral race, Pratt was known mostly as the trouble-making boyfriend of fellow castmate Heidi Montag on the reality TV series The Hills, which ran from 2006 to 2010 and focussed on the lives of young women living in Southern California.

He entered the race in January, gaining attention with a populist appeal, casting blame on Democratic leaders for issues like homeless encampments and the deadly Palisades Fire, which destroyed his home and thousands of others.

But as Wall Street Journal film critic Kyle Smith noted, the viral imagery "has elevated Mr. Pratt from nobody to somebody."

The superhero and Star Wars videos have racked up millions of views, and some polls now show Pratt running second to the incumbent mayor.

“It’s a way of speaking the language of memes. And the language of memes is the currency of the internet,” Samuel Woolley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the Department of Communications, told NBC News.

“At this point, the technology has become widespread, and nearly anyone can effectively create propaganda on behalf of a particular candidate."

Chris Mattmann, a data scientist and AI specialist who has worked at the University of California Los Angeles and NASA, said the effectiveness of the Pratt ads are in part due to the way AI technology has evolved just in the past few years.

"It's very realistic. And that adds to that sort of evocation of emotion and realism. "

He said for example that an AI-generated video making the rounds featuring the likenesses of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting as their film characters may have taken weeks to generate back in 2024 and cost in the seven figures.

Now, similar videos can be generated with simple text prompts, generated in minutes, Mattmann said.

"You don't need to be deeply technical to do it," he said. "You just need to be able to describe at a minimum ... Those types of shots you want to get, the types of emotions, the types of scenes that you want to hit."

He said the Pratt superhero video, which is about one minute and 40 seconds, was likely not a one-sentence prompt, and that others elements, including characters and types of shots had to be introduced.

"That said, all of that is just a prompt," he said.

But Republican strategist Matt Klink said these kind of AI videos are not necessarily a template of all future political campaigns. He said they are really more tailored for someone like Pratt, who is taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of voters with the current mayor.

"The reason that Spencer Pratt is gaining so much attention, is one, because he's been clever and creative," he said. "But two, because [the] ads reflect the reality that most Los Angeles voters feel."

Klink said that for a disruptor candidate like Pratt, these AI generated videos offering a dystopian version of reality are the only way he can make a name for himself.

"If he had run a traditional, buy spots on television, run your 30 second spots, he would have been an afterthought" she said. "But now he's in the mix of these conversations."

Senior Reporter

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