LOS ANGELES — Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt isn’t a superhero.
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But a slew of recent viral AI-generated videos portray him as Los Angeles’ lone savior — helping thrust his mayoral campaign against Mayor Karen Bass and City Council member Nithya Raman into the spotlight in recent weeks.
Many of the videos, created by filmmaker Charlie Curran, cast Pratt in cinematic, hero-style scenarios: battling Bass in a lightsaber duel while California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris scheme behind the scenes or appearing as a Batman-like figure opposite a Joker-esque Bass. The posts have been viewed millions of times on social media.
Pratt has denied involvement, calling the clips “fan-made” in a since-deleted Instagram video. He has reposted several of them on X while sharing his own “man-made” campaign videos that feature video of his wife, fellow “The Hills” alum Heidi Pratt, and their son navigating life after their house burned down in the Palisades Fire.
The content surrounding the campaign has drawn praise from a handful of celebrities, including reality star/entrepreneur Paris Hilton, actor Taylor Lautner and celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton. Many have commented on Pratt’s profile issuing their support and backing his bid.
Experts say the buzz stemming from the AI-generated videos underscores how the technology is becoming a powerful campaign tool among politicians looking to lambaste their opponents in a more unconventional way.
“It’s a way of speaking the language of memes. And the language of memes is the currency of the internet,” said Samuel Woolley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the Department of Communications. “At this point, the technology has become widespread, and nearly anyone can effectively create propaganda on behalf of a particular candidate. So the ease of use and the cost of use is particularly, particularly appealing.”
Pratt, who was the villain of MTV from 2006 to 2010 when “The Hills” aired, has been running a campaign in which he brands himself as an antiestablishment community advocate. He has criticized Bass for her handling of the Palisades Fire, as well as the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.
Bass tops polls in her re-election bid, but Pratt continues to gain support among Angelenos.
Some online have praised Pratt’s videos as “brilliant,” while others have raised concerns about ethical AI use.
In an interview with CNN, Bass described the viral AI-made videos as indicative of “a very dangerous trend.”
Pratt’s social media campaign “is now taking on a violent turn,” she said, citing clips that show tomatoes being thrown at her or scenes that depict “drowning me and the governor in a reservoir.”
A spokesperson for Bass didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Pratt and Curran also didn’t respond.
While Pratt hasn’t addressed Bass’ recent comments, he commented on general criticism geared toward his run Wednesday on Instagram.
“Funny how they never attack my policy ideas,” he wrote, later adding: “Come at my policies or go sit back down on the back bench. I’m in the arena, son.”
Eric Wilson, a political technologist for American conservatives, said that even as generative AI tools have allowed politicians — and their supporters — to whip up creative campaign materials much more quickly and with fewer resource constraints, the fundamentals of campaigning haven’t changed.
“We want to make sure that our candidate looks good and the other candidate doesn’t,” he said.
Pratt’s fan-made videos manage to do that, he said, by telling a coherent story using heroes and villains.
Wilson also said Republicans are likelier to use AI in their campaign strategies than Democrats, citing recent poll results by the American Association of Political Consultants. And within the GOP, President Donald Trump has already set a precedent of heavy reliance on AI-generated memes as part of his political branding.
But politicians should also be wary of harming their message by aligning themselves too closely with AI-generated media, Wilson said. Tests by the AAPC have shown that adding AI disclaimers to videos decreases trust among viewers, regardless of whether the videos were actually AI-generated.
“Campaigns have to weigh: Is the added benefit of the storytelling worth the trade-off in decrease in trust?” Wilson said. “So it’s still very much an open question.”
But Woolley, whose work focuses on emerging technology and manipulation, said he doubts the risk of backlash is high enough right now for campaigns to discourage their supporters from using it.
Instead, he said, Pratt is “benefiting from the democratization of propaganda and the lack of regulatory oversight by social media platforms.”
There’s a good chance that this kind of content will lead to people checking out of politics, but there’s also a good chance that it will cause backlash and demands for a return to clear policy
-Samuel Woolley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh who focuses on emerging technology and manipulation
Pratt shared his own AI-generated video this week in the form of an attack ad against himself that actually lists his selling points. (The post comes after a labor union backing Bass funded a supposed attack ad that made Pratt look so appealing to Republican voters that analysts suspected it was a ploy to help him make the runoff against Bass, thus pushing Raman, her main Democratic opponent, out of the race.)
“A vote for Spencer is a vote for change. Why would you vote for change when everything is fine?” a man says angrily in Pratt’s video, holding the hand of what appears to be his crying daughter as homes burn in the background. “Stay the course with Karen Bass.”
Studies have suggested that there’s more skepticism over the political use of generative AI on the American left than on the right, Woolley said. But his team recently learned through interviews with political consultants and data scientists that political campaigns on both sides of the aisle feel they have to start using generative AI or be left behind.
“I think that AI-driven meme wars are already becoming the state of politics online. But crucially, people are very exhausted by the amount of noise online and by AI slop. And so I don’t know how long this will hold,” he said. “There’s a good chance that this kind of content will lead to people checking out of politics, but there’s also a good chance that it will cause backlash and demands for a return to clear policy.”
Many creatives in Los Angeles, a historically progressive city, have already expressed a distaste for the use of generative AI — which could pose a risk to Pratt, Woolley said. But the videos have also appeared to bolster his popularity online, which Woolley said could force his opponents to take him more seriously.
“Time will tell whether or not anger and vibes and memes are enough to get Pratt into the mayoral office in L.A.,” Woolley said.
