Complaint claims Michigan city misled voters with AI images of fantasy projects

A Sterling Heights official has filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of State alleging that the city violated campaign finance law by using artificial intelligence in advertisements and not disclosing that fact.

City council member Henry Yanez filed the complaint, according to a March 10 letter obtained by Michigan Capitol Confidential.

The letter says section 59 of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act “requires that political advertisements created through the use of artificial intelligence must meet certain requirements, including but not limited to a ‘[s]tate[ment] that the qualified political advertisement was generated in whole or substantially by artificial intelligence.’”

The department will accept statements and rebuttals from the city and Yanez. It will then issue its determination.

Yanez served in the Michigan Legislature from 2012 to 2018 and was a firefighter and paramedic for the city of Sterling. He questioned whether the city used AI to inform voters about a bond question or to persuade them.

“I felt that my city used those [AI] tools to persuade, not inform, voters to vote ‘yes,’ Yanez told CapCon in a phone interview. “So even though they didn’t say ‘vote yes or no’, they showed all of these pictures of all of this cool stuff.”

“Part of the millage was to build a $10 million pickleball facility,” Yanez said. “Then they would show this building that looks like the Greek Parthenon. You’re not going to get anything like that.”

The city expects the complaint to be dismissed, Melanie D. Davis, community relations director of Sterling Heights, told CapCon in an email.

“The City is aware of the Campaign Finance Act Complaint that was filed with the state of Michigan, and has formally requested that it be immediately dismissed for lack of merit. In no way did the City’s public education outreach involve the Michigan Campaign Finance Act. Rather, the City simply provided informational materials to its residents to inform them about the purpose and proposed uses of millage funds. That type of informational material is not a ‘qualified political advertisement,’ despite the mischaracterization and inaccurate allegations in the Complaint. As with all millage proposals, it is ultimately up to the voters to decide how they will vote on any ballot question. The City expects the complaint to be summarily dismissed."