India, Sept. 16 -- I t's been a couple of years since physical posters were banned in Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, pushing candidates to social media. But in 2026, the campaign has entered the era of artificial intelligence (AI). Ahead of polling day on September 18, the battle is as much about crafting the right prompt as it is about campaigning on the ground. "This year, AI has changed the whole game, as that's the content that's getting the maximum traction. DUSU elections are now about how creative one can get with the prompts and different AI tools to get the most relatable and viral content," says Anam Pandey, who runs several pages in support of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)'s presidential candidate Yash Dabas. Jatin, a final-year student on the social media team of National Students' Union of India's (NSUI) presidential candidate, Vijay Shankar Meena, adds, "Memes are fun, but they are now outdone. Through AI, you can tell a full story in 10-20 seconds. That has immense possibility." The shift is as much about the algorithm as it is about strategy, explains Nitin Mittal, a final-year student who manages social media accounts affiliated with NSUI. He says, "The algorithm of Instagram right now is such that viral AI content is grabbing attention. So we're inclined towards creating fun posts, as that will bring students to your page." Creating such content requires serious brainstorming. Yash Singh, a first-year MA student who is part of the creative conceptualisation team for Dabas' social media campaign, says, "The plan is to create AI content in a way that is also quirky and not just brainless." One of their Reels has garnered over 500k views in less than 24 hours. He adds, "This kind of interaction doesn't even happen while campaigning in person. It increases recall value for our candidate."...