Your superintendent just endorsed who? You gotta see this.
Look—I'm gonna be real with you. We've all seen some wild stuff pop up online, especially around election season. But down in South County, specifically over in the Lindbergh Schools district, things just got… *weird*. An AI-generated image of Superintendent Tony Lake popped up on Facebook, seemingly endorsing a school board candidate. This wasn't just a bad photoshop job, either; this was some deepfake-level stuff, posted by a local "watchdog" type. The district had to jump in and clarify immediately that it was totally fake, that the superintendent never endorsed anyone, and that this kind of thing undermines the whole process.
**Why This Matters for St. Louis**
Now, I know what some of y'all are thinking: "Oh, it's just some internet shenanigans." But think about it. We're talking about school board elections here, races that directly impact our kids, our property values, and the future of neighborhoods from Sappington to Concord. When you start throwing AI-generated fake endorsements into the mix, you're not just playing games; you're messing with the fabric of how we make decisions in this city. It makes you wonder what's next, right? Are we gonna have fake Ted Drewes commercials endorsing aldermanic candidates? You know, the kind of stuff that makes you question what's real and what's just another trick.
* This highlights the growing challenge of misinformation, even in local races. * It forces school districts and local officials to be quicker than ever to respond to online fakes. * It reminds us all to question what we see online, especially when it looks a little *too* perfect.
This ain't just some abstract tech problem; this is hitting us right where we live, in our local school districts. It shows you how quickly these digital shenanigans can become a very real-world problem for folks just trying to vote for who they think is best for their kids. That's the Lou — we're still here and we're not leaving.
The folks on "The Morning Wire" dig into stuff like this all the time – you should check out the show live at mornings.live.