In the parking lot of Seven Oaks Element school in South Carolina on one of the first hot days of the year I watched an AI-generated George Washington talk about the American revolution. \u201cOur rights are a gift from God, not a favor from kings or courts,\u201d slop Washington told me. It spoke from a screen that stretched floor to ceiling, trimmed by a fancy frame.\u00a0The intended effect is to make it appear as if the founding father is a painting come to life, a piece of history talking to the viewer. The actual effect was to remind that the AI slop aesthetic is synonymous with the Trump presidency and has become part of the visual language of fascism. Which is fitting because AI George Washington is the result of a collaboration between the Trump White and online content mill PragerU.<\/p>\n
The AI slop founding father is part of a touring exhibit of Freedom Trucks commissioned by PragerU in honor of the 250th anniversary of American independence. The trucks are a mobile museum exhibit meant to teach kids about the founding of the country. It\u2019s pitched at kids\u2014most of the \u201ccontent,\u201d as staff on site called it, is meant for a younger audience but the trucks have viewing hours open to the general public. Nick Bravo, a PragerU employee on hand to answer questions, told me that there are six Freedom Trucks and that the plan is to have them travel the 48 contiguous United States over the next year.I was drawn to the Freedom Truck because I\u2019d heard they contained AI-generated recreations of Revolutionary figures like Washington, Betsy Ross, and the Marquis Lafayette, similar to the ones on display at the White House. To my disappointment, the AI generated videos in the Freedom Truck are remarkably boring.As I watched the AI George Washington deliver a by-the-books version of the American story, I thought about Jerry Jones. The famously vain owner of the Dallas Cowboys commissioned an AI version of himself for AT&T stadium in 2023. Fans who make the pilgrimage to the stadium can watch a presentation and ask the AI Jones questions. The AI wanders a big screen while it talks to the audience.Other than the lazy AI generated videos, the Freedom Truck doesn\u2019t have much to offer. I signed a digital copy of the Declaration of Independence on a touchscreen and took a quiz that asked leading questions designed to find out if I was a \u201cloyalist or patriot.\u201d\u201cThe British Army sends soldiers to Boston. How do you react?\u201d Answer 1: \u201cView them as occupiers violating colonial liberty.\u201d Answer 2: \u201cWelcome them as defenders of law and order.\u201d With ICE and the National Guard patrolling American cities, I wondered how supporters of the current administration would answer that one.PragerU is known for its \u201cAmerica can do no wrong\u201d view of US history. Its short form video content offers a cartoon version of the past stripped of nuance and context where the country lives up to the myth that it is a \u201cShining City On a Hill.\u201d According to PragerU, the Civil War was not about slavery and dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was a necessary thing that \u201cshortened the war and saved countless lives.\u201d Now PragerU is taking its view of history on tour across the country. School children in every state will wander these trucks and encounter an AI slop version of the past.Bravo told me that all the truck\u2019s content was generated as part of a partnership between PragerU and Michigan\u2019s Hillsdale College\u2014a Christian university that helped craft Project 2025. There were, of course, hints of Project 2025 around the edges of the child-friendly AI-generated videos.\u00a0 Slavery isn\u2019t ignored but the stories of early African Americans like poet Phillis Wheatley focus on her celebration of America rather than how she arrived there. On the museum\u2019s \u201cWall of Heroes,\u201d Whitaker Chambers is nestled between architect Frank Lloyd Wright and painter Norman Rockwell.A small note near the floor at the exit of the truck notes the\u00a0 collaboration of PragerU and Hillsdale College, and claims that \u201cneither institution received any federal funds and both generously contributed their own resources to help create this educational exhibit.\u201d It also said \u201cthis truck was made possible through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services,\u201d which is, of course, a federal agency.Every AI-generated video ended with a title card showing the White House and PragerU\u2019s logo. \u201cThe White House is grateful for the partnership with PragerU and the US Department of Education for the production of this museum,\u201d the card said. \u201cThis partnership does not constitute or imply a US Government or US Department of Education endorsement of PragerU.\u201dTrump attempted to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) via executive order in 2025, but the courts blocked it. Libraries and Museums have since reported that the IMLS grant process has taken on a \u201cchilling\u201d pro-Trump political turn. The administration has also attempted to dismantle the Department of Education.Trump\u2019s voice was the last thing I heard as I wandered into the bright afternoon sun. \u201cI want to thank PragerU for helping us share this incredible story,\u201d he said in a recorded video that played on a loop in Freedom Truck. \u201cI hope you will join me in helping to make America\u2019s 250th anniversary a year we will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"