Disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo just doesn’t get it. After numerous sexual harassment claims, he was forced to resign from his post in August 2021. Then, after running a hopelessly out of date comeback campaign, he lost New York’s Democratic primary in July of this year. Yet the political nepo baby refuses to accept reality, continuing his run as an independent.
This week, Cuomo’s campaign debuted an advertisement in which clearly AI-generated clips show him him doing various jobs someone from upstate New York might regard as quintessentially New York: driving the subway, stagehand work, trading on the New York Stock Exchange, and washing high-rise windows. In the ad, Cuomo admits he may not be cut out for the aforementioned roles, but claims he’s ready and qualified to be mayor.
Cuomo’s ostensible target was his opponent Zohran Mandani, who he’s seeking to paint as young and inexperienced.
But Mamdani took to Instagram and shared screencaps of the Cuomo ad, captioned with a ringing retort.
“In a city of world-class artists and production crew hunting for the next gig, Andrew Cuomo made a TV ad the same way he wrote his housing policy: with AI,” he wrote. “Then again, maybe a fake Cuomo is better than the real one?”
Mamdani’s post had some deeper-level digs as well; it was even geotagged in Westchester County, a suburb where Cuomo lives outside of New York City limits.
Whether Cuomo is forced to leverage AI because no one will work for him or because he can’t stand the thought of setting foot in the subway system, expect more of it if he wins the race; he was embarrassed earlier this year when his housing plan showed clear signs of having been produced using ChatGPT.
He isn’t alone with the use of AI in politics, though. President Donald Trump, for instance, has faced similar allegations on his executive orders, and has leaned into sharing AI-generated clips of his opponents that are often tinged with racist tropes.
As the race for NYC’s mayor forges forward, the New York Times tracker shows Mamdani maintaining a double-digit lead over Cuomo in most polls.
More on Cuomo here: Called Out for AI Slop, Andrew Cuomo Blames One-Armed Man