The dust has settled, the votes are in, and the 2024 election is officially in the history books. Honestly, if you spent any time on social media leading up to November, you probably felt like you were living in a sci-fi movie. Everyone was panicking about how ai who will win 2024 election narratives would dismantle democracy as we know it.
People expected a "tsunami" of deepfakes. They thought we'd all be tricked by hyper-realistic videos of candidates saying things they never said. But now that it's 2026, we can look back and say: it didn't really happen like that. Donald Trump won the 2024 election with 312 electoral votes, defeating Kamala Harris. And while AI was everywhere, it wasn't the shadowy puppet master many feared.
Basically, the 2024 race proved that AI is a tool, not a crystal ball or an unstoppable weapon. It changed how campaigns ran, but it didn't magically pick the winner.
Why the "AI Election" Was Sorta Underwhelming
Before the election, the vibe was pure anxiety. The World Economic Forum even ranked AI-generated misinformation as the second most likely risk to cause a global crisis in 2024. Talk about high stakes! But when the actual voting started, the reality was much weirder and, frankly, less "high-tech" than predicted.
Instead of perfectly faked videos that fooled the masses, we got memes. Lots of them. You probably remember those AI-generated images of Trump surrounded by kittens or Kamala Harris in communist-style outfits. They weren't meant to "trick" anyone into thinking they were real photos; they were visual punchlines.
The New Hampshire Wake-Up Call
The biggest early shock was the New Hampshire primary robocall. Someone used AI to mimic President Biden's voice, telling people to stay home and "save" their votes for November. It was a classic "deepfake" move.
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The FCC moved fast, though. They banned those AI-generated robocalls almost immediately. The consultant behind it, Steven Kramer, ended up facing criminal charges and massive fines. This actually set a huge precedent. It showed that while the tech is fast, the law was starting to catch up.
Did AI Help Predict ai who will win 2024 election?
Predicting elections is notoriously hard. Human pollsters have been struggling for years with "shy" voters and shrinking response rates. So, naturally, everyone turned to machine learning.
Researchers at places like the NYU Center for Social Media and Politics and various tech firms tried to use AI to "read" the room. They analyzed millions of posts on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) to gauge sentiment. Interestingly, some AI models predicted a Harris lead on a national level based on "favorable sentiment" in online discussions.
But here’s the kicker: the models that focused on battleground states—the ones that actually matter in the Electoral College—often showed Trump with an edge.
- Sentiment Analysis: AI can process 25,000 posts in seconds.
- The Flaw: AI still struggles with sarcasm. If someone says, "Oh great, another tax hike," a basic AI might tag that as "great" (positive) when it's clearly negative.
- The Reality: At the end of the day, AI-powered predictions were just as hit-or-miss as traditional polling.
How Campaigns Actually Used the Tech
Forget the deepfakes for a second. The real impact of AI in 2024 was "under the hood" stuff. It was about efficiency.
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Campaigns used AI to write ad copy for hundreds of different versions of the same message. They used it to translate speeches into different languages instantly, reaching non-English speaking voters in ways that used to take weeks and thousands of dollars.
"AI didn't replace the strategist; it just gave the strategist a thousand more interns."
It was a tool for "micro-targeting." If a campaign knew you cared about cat shelters and lived in a specific zip code in Pennsylvania, they could use AI to generate an ad that hit those exact notes. It’s kinda creepy, sure, but it’s more about marketing than "hacking" a brain.
The "Liar’s Dividend"
This is a concept experts like those at the Brennan Center for Justice talked about a lot. It’s the idea that because everyone knows AI can make fake videos, politicians can claim that real videos are fake.
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If a candidate got caught saying something embarrassing on a hot mic, they could just say, "That's an AI deepfake!" Even if it wasn't. This "liar's dividend" actually did more to erode trust than the fake content itself. It made people doubt everything.
Foreign Influence: The Russia Factor
U.S. intelligence agencies were pretty clear about this: Russia and other actors did use AI to try and tilt the scales. They didn't necessarily create "new" lies; they just used AI to spread the old ones faster.
The "Doppelganger" campaign, which the Justice Department disrupted in September 2024, used AI to create fake news sites that looked exactly like legitimate outlets. They’d post stories designed to amplify fears about immigration or the economy.
Was it effective? It’s hard to say. Most researchers think these tactics mostly "preach to the choir." If you already felt a certain way, an AI-generated meme just reinforced it. It rarely changed anyone's mind.
What Really Decided the Outcome?
If AI didn't win the election for anyone, what did? Honestly, it was the same old stuff: the economy, immigration, and candidate "vibes."
Trump’s victory was driven by massive swings in his favor among demographics that usually don't vote Republican, like Hispanic men and younger voters. AI might have helped the campaign target those groups, but the message itself—the "America First" platform—is what resonated.
Kamala Harris’s campaign used plenty of tech too, including AI-driven fundraising and "persuasion chatbots." But in the end, the electoral environment was just too tough for an incumbent administration to overcome.
Actionable Insights for the Future
We’re past 2024, but the "AI Era" of politics is just beginning. Here’s what you should actually do to stay sane and informed as we head toward the next cycle:
- Check the Source, Not the Image: If you see a video of a politician doing something wild, don't look at the video. Look at who posted it. Is it a verified news organization or "FreedomEagle1776" on Telegram?
- Be Skeptical of "Instant" Fact-Checks: Sometimes the "fact-check" itself is AI-generated and wrong. Wait for multiple sources to confirm a story.
- Support Transparency Laws: Several states started requiring "watermarks" on AI political ads. These are tiny digital signatures that tell you if an image was generated by a computer. Support candidates who push for these rules.
- Understand the "Liar's Dividend": Next time a politician says a video of them is "AI-generated," ask for proof. Don't let them use the existence of technology as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
The 2024 election wasn't "won" by an algorithm. It was won by a candidate who leveraged every tool available—including AI—to reach the right people at the right time. AI is just the new printing press. It’s powerful, it’s messy, and it’s here to stay.