AI politicking isn’t coming – it’s already here, and proving hard to regulate

Comment: Marc Daalder argues the “AI election” has already arrived in New Zealand (Newsroom Pro editorial, February 2). He is right: the technology is already embedded in contemporary campaigning, and recent AI-generated advertising by the National Party is one visible sign of a deeper shift.

The rise of generative AI in elections is something we explore in a forthcoming article in the New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law. Using the 2024 European Parliament elections as a case study, that article examines how far regulation can shape political behaviour in practice, and where its limits appear to lie.

As the use of AI becomes increasingly widespread, and begins to resemble a general-purpose business tool, questions about regulating it start to look like attempts to regulate something as mundane as the computer mouse.

Read more at: https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/13/ai-politicking-isnt-coming-its-already-here-and-proving-hard-to-regulate/