Both Parties Could Soon Be Using AI Robocalls
One cheap, effective trick in a close race could become standard practice for both parties.
Reuters World News · Saudi airport strike, Trump-Zelenskiy spat and 'cockroach' leader freedReporter Dave Shepardson was asked a simple question: do political robocalls actually move voters.
The question came after Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group, petitioned regulators to permit computer-voiced campaign calls to mobile phones without prior permission from voters. If the group succeeds, voters could receive a wave of new campaign outreach recorded not by people but by software.
His answer was blunt. "The reason robocalls have been so successful over the years is 'cause they work," he said.
What he meant, he said, is that the math favors volume over persuasion. The calls are relatively cheap to send, so a campaign can send millions of them without needing a high success rate to see a benefit. If regulators approve the request, he said, automated calls could become "a hallmark at the end of campaigns."
The effects of any one call are usually tiny. Research on voter calls generally finds shifts of less than one percentage point, mostly from reminding supporters to vote rather than changing minds. Shepardson's point was about scale at the end of a close, contested race. If a campaign blasts voters with millions of automated calls and even "a fraction of a fraction of a percent of" people who answer can be persuaded to switch sides, he asked, could that matter in a very close race.
That success would create pressure to copy it, he suggested, because when one side finds a cheap and effective way to reach voters, the other side tends to follow. As he put it, "it's hard not to imagine that everybody's not gonna follow suit."
Questions people ask
Are AI political robocalls to cell phones currently restricted?
Yes, in most cases. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, campaigns generally need prior express consent to send artificial or prerecorded calls to cell phones, and in February 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count under that rule. The Club for Growth petition asks for an exemption for political calls.
What is the Club for Growth?
It is a conservative advocacy group that supports lower taxes, limited government, and free market policies. It is best known for spending in Republican primaries and general elections to back candidates who favor those positions.
How effective are voter calls in general?
The effects are usually very small per call, but large volume can matter. Academic studies of voter turnout calls often find shifts of less than one percentage point, mostly by reminding supporters to vote rather than changing minds. Shepardson's point is that in very close races, even that tiny shift can be decisive.