JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Duval County School Board candidate deleted an AI-generated image from his Facebook page after Action News Jax questioned him about it.
District 6 candidate Clarence James, who is running to replace current School Board Chair Charlotte Joyce, recently shared a series of photos promoting a campaign fish fry at a local church.
Among them was an image showing James and two other men surrounded by what appeared to be Black supporters.
A closer look revealed signs that the crowd was not real.
Several faces appeared distorted. One woman appeared to have three feet.
After spotting the image, Action News Jax reporter Deja Mayfield left a comment on James’ Facebook post questioning its authenticity.
Moments later, the image was replaced with a different photo.
The post comes as artificial intelligence continues to make its way into political campaigns across Florida.
Last week, Action News Jax reported an AI-generated video shared by an account associated with gubernatorial candidate Jay Collins. The video depicted a dystopian future under the leadership of frontrunner Congressman Byron Donalds.
James’ Facebook post is another example of candidates using AI-generated content as part of their public messaging.
A Florida law passed in 2024 made it illegal for candidates to use AI-generated deepfakes in attack advertisements without clearly disclosing that the content was artificially created.
However, the image shared by James does not appear to violate that law.
Action News Jax reached out to James and asked whether voters could still trust him to serve with integrity after posting a fake image portraying supporters who did not exist.
He did not respond.
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