ABC57 talks AI in American politics with Notre Dame professor ahead of 2026 midterm elections

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With the 2026 midterm election less than three weeks away, ABC57 News sat down with Notre Dame Political Science Professor, Jim Curry, to learn how AI is aiding in a rapidly changing political landscape.

It's election season. Campaigns signs are popping up in yards. Candidates are speaking with voters, and campaign ads are popping up on your phone.

Jim Curry shared his expertise in law making, national and local politics, and says AI is suddenly a big issue.

"This is a political environment where it's favorable to Democrats and unfavorable to Republicans for a number of reasons, including just simply that Republicans control the White House and they control Congress, and there's always usually some sort of midterm backlash, but that's not helped by the fact that data centers and AI are two policy areas in which people sort of are sort of feeling and hearing a lot about it, and Congress hasn't really done much yet," shared Curry.

He says legislation has been considered but couldn't fully move forward.

"The House passed a ratepayer protection bill that was supposed to help protect people from raising utility rates as a result of data centers. It didn't get through the Senate. Any efforts to try to regulate AI or build security into AI is really just in its infancy on Capitol Hill because it's such a new issue that lawmakers and House members and Senators haven't really figured out what needs to be done yet."

He went on to say "at the same time, you have the White House essentially saying that we shouldn't regulate AI, that data centers are good, and so what we have is an issue where the public is nervous about AI, but congress hasn't acted. The public is upset about rising costs in data centers, but either Congress hasn't acted, or the White House is saying we shouldn't."

As we head into the 2026 midterm election, a consequential election for both parties, voters are left trying to not only figure out what's most important to them but figure out what's real and what's not.

"I think we're still groping for answers for how voters can identify it, protect themselves from it, and not get misled. There's not enough research on this yet, and I'm certain that smart people who study these things are engaged in those sorts of research questions right now of trying to find out can AI help voters become more informed, or alternatively, does AI undermine people's ability to become informed about the issues," said Curry.

Curry says locally; more action is being taken to regulate the unfamiliar territory.

"Indiana's passed laws over the last couple years to try to protect consumers from spiking utility bills as a result of data centers. Just last week, the City of South Bend announced sort of like a draft plan to try to make sure that the building of any data centers in South Bend communities would be something that was good for the public rather than averse to public interest. Essentially, creating a bunch of check boxes that a proposal would have to go through to make sure it like doesn't harm the public, doesn't harm people, but actually helps that community, and so we're seeing a lot of more action at the state and local level, or attempts to."

In 2024, the Indiana General Assembly signed House Bill 1133 into law. The law regulates the use of digitally altered media in elections and defining “fabricated media” with new disclosure and legal requirements.

In 2025, Congress the Take It Down Act, a bill that criminalizes the nonconsensual publication of intimate images, including “digital forgeries” or, deepfakes, in certain circumstances. It also requires certain websites and online or mobile applications, identified as “covered platforms,” to implement a “notice-and-removal” process to remove such images at the depicted individual’s request. President Trump signed the bill into law on May 19, 2025. The bill’s criminal prohibition takes effect immediately, while covered platforms had until May 19, 2026, to establish the required notice-and-removal process.