Three candidates for South Western City Schools, including the current school board president, created an AI-generated video of their opponents ahead of Tuesday's election.
The video was posted Tuesday night to the joint Facebook page for school board President Chris Boso and his two allies in the race, Steve Feucht and Jason Gocha. The video falsely portrayed their opponents, including board member Camile Peterson, Chelsea Alkire and Kelly Dillon.
The video goes one-by-one, animating photos of the three candidates saying they don't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance; that they want teachers to get a million-percent raise and that they need the votes of "crazy libs."
Election Day is on Tuesday and will decide who wins three seats on the suburban Columbus school board. The district is the fifth-largest by enrollment in Ohio, serving more than 20,000 students in Ohio's largest county.
Dillon, who is a media studies professor and cyberbullying expert at Wittenberg University, told WOSU she considers the video defamation. She didn't rule out suing her opponents.
Dillon called the video disappointing because she thought the three candidates largely had decent rapport during this election.
"We're focused on hearing and trying to find solutions for problems that our community actually cares about, like late busses, or inequities in facilities, or making sure that we get our money back from the state," Dillon said.
Boso and his allies commented on the video Tuesday, saying the post wasn't meant to be mean-spirited or hateful.
Boso told WOSU he's also faced negative political rhetoric from his opponents. He pointed out the video identifies itself as AI-generated.
"We're not out there deceiving people and not letting people know. I think that's a big point to be taken from this. But mainly just to get the other side's views on things out there," Boso said.
The tactic is not new in politics. Figures like President Donald Trump and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have been the subjects of fake AI videos.
This election is one of the first local races featuring such tactics that has been widely publicized.
Peterson, one of Dillon's allies, said in a statement she thinks her opponents are using false culture war allegations to distract voters from real issues in the race. She focused her attack on a contentious topic in this election: the school district's attorney Omar Tarazi.
"Voters deserve complete honesty from anyone seeking to represent our schools," Peterson said.
Peterson, her allies and the district's teachers' union have criticized the district for hiring Tarazi on a $9,000 a month legal retainer. Boso said Tarazi mainly advises on HR issues, legal threats and lawsuits.
But, Tarazi is a former candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives and Congress in Ohio's 15th Congressional District.
Tarazi recently spoke at an event featuring Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate for Ohio governor. At the event, Tarazi proposed taking away school board elections from large school districts like SWCSD to strip influence away from teachers unions.
Partisan politics have entered the race on both sides of the aisle.
The Franklin County Republican Party and state leaders like Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost have donated more than $15,000 combined to Boso, Feucht and Gocha. Campaign finance reports show Tarazi donated thousands of dollars to the Franklin County Republican Party shortly before the party donated to Boso, Feucht and Gocha.
The Ohio Republican Party sent out mailers with the same accusations against Alkire, Peterson and Dillon.
One mailer includes a photo of the three posing with finger guns in the style of the TV series "Charlie's Angels" with the caption "despite recent political threats and violence." The photo was posted Sept. 1, before conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
The Franklin County Democrats endorsed Peterson, Alkire and Dillon, including the three on the sample ballot mailed to voters and handed out at polling locations.
Boso said his team is trying to let voters know what his allies and their opponents' views are. He said he recognizes that AI is being used to deceive people, but doesn't think their video qualifies as such.
Boso said his campaign has stayed largely positive, whereas he's seen posts on Facebook and elsewhere calling him "racist" and creating images of him in a clown outfit.
"I take them lightheartedly. It's politics. I realized that, you know, I let it go roll off my back," Boso said.
Boso said he believes the video conveyed he and his allies' point to the community.
Boso accused Dillon of not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance until she started her campaign for school board.
Dillon told WOSU she always stands for the Pledge of Allegiance and challenged her opponents to show evidence to the contrary.
"This isn't what our community wants to talk about. Our community wants us to keep from having a levy. Our community want us to have our tax rates low and our property values high. They want our children to get to school on time. They want them to be safe," Dillon said.
Dillon said media literacy is near and dear to her heart. She said students in the district need to be prepared, and learn how to tell what is real media and what is fake, like this video.
She called this a great example to teach to her college students.
"I'm teaching it to my students and we're learning about all of the Supreme Court precedent that has led to people understanding what speech is and is not protected," Dillon said.
