Thousands of Voters Chatted with AI Bot Before WI Supreme Court Election
1.1 million received AI messages from group looking to elect liberal judge Chris Taylor.
Cell phone. (Pixabay License)
In a lopsided Supreme Court race, Wisconsinites overwhelmingly chose liberal Justice-elect Chris Taylor to join the state’s highest court for a decade-long stint. Her win will give liberals a 5-2 majority.
But before election night, a newcomer had entered the race: a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence that was texting voters, offering to answer their questions about the election, with an eye toward helping Taylor.
“Got any questions about (Chris Taylor’s) record and why it matters?” a message shared with WPR read. “I’m a virtual assistant standing by to answer your questions any time before you head to the polls on Tuesday. Just reply.”
The organizations Defend Our Courts and Convos created the chatbot to help voters “make an informed decision.” Defend Our Courts was previously involved in the 2025 Pennsylvania Supreme Court race, raising $5 million to support three “Democratic-aligned” justices who later won their elections.
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In Wisconsin, the group used an AI-powered virtual assistant to target voters identified as “undecided” across the state, sending messages that supported Taylor’s election. More than 1.1 million received texts and over 10,000 responded, Defend Our Courts told WPR.
AI has creeped into races across the country. During the 2024 presidential election cycle, New Hampshire residents received AI robocalls using then-President Joe Biden’s voice, telling them to skip the state’s Democratic primary. It prompted the Federal Communications Commission to make AI-generated voice calls illegal.
The use of AI chatbots for interactions with potential voters is a “slippery slope,” argues Dietram Scheufele, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in how emerging technologies have changed communication.
“We really are potentially entering uncharted territory, because in the past, of course, it was possible to spread misinformation,” Scheufele said. “But (until AI), it was very difficult to do this at scale and in a way that almost responds in real time to events.”
A spokesperson for Taylor’s campaign told WPR they “can’t control the activity of outside groups in this race,” adding that voters should “independently examine” candidates.
Joe Bachman, Defend Our Courts cofounder and Polaris Strategy Group managing partner, was inspired to partner with Convos to create the virtual assistant in the Wisconsin race after seeing most residents were still unsure of who to vote for less than two months before the election.
“This technology through Convos is allowing us to reach out to (voters) and invite them to a conversation, to try to give them the information that they need, to educate them,” Bachman said.
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Tom Carroll cofounded Convos and helped create the software. He said it’s different from common generative-AI chatbots like Google Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which use large language models to create new content. Instead, Convos relies on data solely from Defend Our Courts.
Carroll says the virtual assistant is a modern type of grassroots organizing.
“We’re doing something that (grassroots organizations) always wanted to do, but at a scale that just has not been possible,” Carroll said.
Carroll hopes to continue partnering with similar organizations to expand in future races across the country, adding that the company is “building (its) roster every day.”
Scheufele believes AI will continue to be used in elections, including the upcoming midterms featuring Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race.
“It’ll take a lot of catching up for all of us to do to really adjust to this new normal of campaigning,” Scheufele said.
Thousands of Wisconsin voters conversed with an AI chatbot before the Supreme Court election was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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