This Storyboard - which we call our "stain" chart - shows you at a glance how strong or weak a given narrative is right now relative to its history.

For each narrative or "semantic signature" listed on the left of the chart, we have a series of blue dots on the right, each of which represents a specific weekly density or volume of that narrative. reading from within the date range that we are covering. The red arrow is the most recent reading, so it's just like the "YOU ARE HERE" spot on a map. The x-axis scale shows the range of index values.  If a dot is at 100, that means that story is 100% more present in media than usual. If it’s at 0, it means it’s at its normal level.

The light blue shaded box covers the middle 50% of readings across the date range, so you can see quickly if the current reading is typical (inside the blue box), depressed (left of the blue box), or elevated (to the right of the blue box).

If you hover over a specific blue dot, you will see the specific date and measurement that the dot represents.

The Pulse

Courts Reassert Constitutional Limits as AI-Enabled Enforcement and Election Integrity Narratives Reshape American Discourse

Executive Summary

- The Supreme Court's tariff ruling has rebalanced discourse around executive power and judicial legitimacy. Language arguing that presidential authority has grown excessive moderated sharply following the Learning Resources decision but remains far above its long-term average, suggesting that the ruling tempered—but did not resolve—concerns about executive overreach. Simultaneously, language praising the Court as a defender of liberty climbed toward its historical norm, while language accusing courts of overstepping declined, indicating that public discourse is increasingly treating the judiciary as a legitimate counterweight to executive ambition.

- AI-enabled federal immigration enforcement has produced the most dramatic surge in language about police oppression in our dataset, while rhetorical defense of law enforcement has barely responded. Fatal incidents during Operation Metro Surge and the expanding domestic use of facial recognition, biometric scanning, and social media monitoring by federal agents drove criticism of policing to well above average. Language defending police remained deeply depressed, producing one of the widest gaps between these competing narratives that we have recorded. Language celebrating the presumption of innocence also declined, consistent with a discourse environment in which due process receives diminishing rhetorical emphasis despite the intensification of enforcement.

- Election integrity narratives have reactivated sharply from both directions, with AI-generated deepfakes serving as the contested fulcrum. Language claiming that elections are fraudulent and language asserting that elections are secure both rose by comparable magnitudes, indicating that the 2026 midterm cycle is reigniting the broader election debate without resolving it. The proliferation of AI deepfakes in campaign environments, combined with a federal executive order aimed at preempting state-level AI regulation, has created legal and informational uncertainty heading into November.

- Across all three domains—trade, enforcement, and elections—AI technology has emerged as the common thread reshaping how power is exercised and contested. The Major Questions Doctrine invoked in the tariff ruling raises the judicial bar for unilateral executive action on AI policy; AI-powered surveillance tools are driving the sharpest law enforcement backlash in our data; and AI-generated content is central to both election fraud and election security narratives. Language about the equal application of law softened during this period, and both constitutional praise and constitutional flexibility narratives sit above average at the same time, reinforcing a portrait of American discourse in which foundational principles are objects of active contestation rather than settled consensus.

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Supreme Court Tariff Ruling Recalibrates Executive Power Debate While Constitutional Praise and Flexibility Narratives Rise in Tandem

The Supreme Court's February 20, 2026 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump sent a clear signal about the boundaries of presidential authority. In a 6-3 decision, the Court struck down the sweeping tariffs President Trump imposed via executive orders, holding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs on imported goods. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that "IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties" and that the president's assertion of "the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope" required clear congressional authorization he could not identify. The Brookings Institution characterized the decision as upholding "Congress's Article I authority" and rebuking "Trump's exploitation of presidential power."

Perscient's semantic signature tracking the density of language arguing that presidential power has grown excessive moderated from an Index Value of 153 to 101, a decline of over 52 points. Yet even after this moderation, the signature remains at roughly double its long-term average. Commentator David Brooks called the current moment "the most imperial presidency in American history," noting that "it's accompanied not only by a president who wants to grab every power, but a Congress whose power is imploding voluntarily." The president posted on social media that the Court's decision "made a President's ability to both regulate trade and impose tariffs more powerful and more crystal clear, rather than less," while senior advisor Stephen Miller insisted that "his tariffs will not only be fully reconstituted, they will also be expanded."

The ruling activated two competing constitutional narratives simultaneously. Our semantic signature tracking language praising the Constitution as an exceptional document rose by 19.4 points to an Index Value of 21, well above average. Former Vice President Mike Pence declared on social media that the ruling was "a Victory for the American People and a Win for the Separation of Powers enshrined in the Constitution," while the Cato Institute called it "a major victory for the constitutional separation of powers, rule of law, and millions of American consumers and businesses." At the same time, our signature tracking language arguing that the Constitution should not be allowed to stand in the way of necessary action also strengthened, rising to an Index Value of 35. Both signatures sitting above average simultaneously suggests active contestation over the meaning and flexibility of the founding document, not a consensus in either direction.

The judiciary's standing also shifted. Perscient's semantic signature tracking language praising the Supreme Court as a defender of liberty climbed by 26.8 points to an Index Value of -3, approaching its long-term average after sitting well below it. Meanwhile, language arguing that courts have begun overstepping their authority fell by 8.2 points. Together, these movements indicate that public discourse is gravitating toward a more favorable view of judicial power as a check on the executive. The Thomson Reuters analysis noted the ruling's application of the Major Questions Doctrine, which "signals a continued judicial trend toward scrutinizing executive agency actions that have significant economic impact without clear congressional backing." Senator Mike Lee nonetheless acknowledged the tension, calling IEEPA "a horribly written law" even as he argued that the ruling was wrong.

For organizations operating in the AI sector, the Major Questions Doctrine the Court invoked could constrain future executive-branch efforts to unilaterally regulate or promote AI technologies. Any sweeping policy action without clear congressional authorization now faces a higher bar of judicial skepticism, regardless of ideological alignment.

AI-Powered Immigration Enforcement Drives a Sharp Intensification of Language About Police Oppression

While the tariff ruling may have tempered some language around presidential overreach, a parallel development in domestic enforcement has pushed other narrative indicators to striking levels. Perscient's semantic signature tracking the density of language arguing that American policing has become violent and oppressive recorded the largest one-month change of any signature in our dataset, climbing by 63.0 points to an Index Value of 44—a swing from below average to well above average driven by an escalating confrontation around federal immigration enforcement.

The catalyst has been a series of fatal incidents involving federal agents. The killing of Renée Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7 during Operation Metro Surge, followed by the shooting death of Alex Pretti, triggered protests and student walkouts from coast to coast. Metro Surge, centered in the Twin Cities, involves over 3,000 federal agents and represents ICE's largest-ever domestic operation. Eyewitness accounts and social media documentation fueled rapid mobilization; thousands took to the streets in Minneapolis and beyond. Hundreds of students received suspensions for participating in walkouts.

What distinguishes this moment from prior cycles of protest against law enforcement is the central role of AI technology. PBS News reported that the Department of Homeland Security has intensified its use of surveillance tools in immigration operations. Facial recognition, biometric scanning, and social media monitoring now sweep in U.S. citizens. The American Immigration Council warned that DHS is accelerating its investment in AI for ICE operations, and tools originally developed for border security now extend into domestic neighborhoods. On social media, accounts circulated claims that independent actors had built AI agents linked to messaging platforms that scan live streams in Minneapolis and alert ICE to the sound of foreign languages being spoken. DHS agents reportedly used facial recognition and license plate readers to monitor protest observers in Maine, then threatened them.

The companion signature tracking language defending police as dedicated public servants doing their best rose only modestly, by 6.2 points, to an Index Value of -29, remaining well below average. The gap between the critical and supportive policing narratives (44 versus -29) represents one of the widest divergences in our data, indicating that criticism of law enforcement decisively outweighs defense in current media coverage. Our signature tracking language celebrating the presumption of innocence fell by 11.1 points to -29, consistent with a discourse environment in which due process protections receive less rhetorical emphasis even as enforcement actions intensify.

For AI organizations, the expanding domestic use of tools like Palantir's ImmigrationOS and Clearview AI in law enforcement creates both regulatory and reputational risk as public debate over these tools sharpens.

Election Narratives Sharply Rebound as AI Deepfakes and Federal Intervention Reshape the 2026 Midterm Landscape

Both of Perscient's election-related semantic signatures moved in the same direction this month: our signature tracking language claiming that elections are fraudulent or compromised rose by 35.5 points to an Index Value of -3, while our signature tracking language asserting that American elections are secure rose by 31.4 points to -8. Both remain slightly below their long-term averages but are converging rapidly toward the mean after being deeply depressed in January.

The simultaneous rise of these opposing narratives indicates a reactivation of the broader election integrity debate rather than a clear consensus in either direction. PBS News reviewed a 17-page working document that would give the president "extraordinary power over the 2026 midterm elections" by claiming to address integrity issues caused by foreign interference. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard drew scrutiny for accompanying FBI agents on a search at a Fulton County, Georgia elections office, raising questions about whether her expanding role in election security aligns with her office's mandate. The Brennan Center warned that administration officials could "manipulate this voter data to support false claims" after seizing 2020 voting records.

The legislative terrain is also shifting. The SAVE America Act, which would impose strict voter identification requirements, is heading to a Senate vote, and critics warn that it could disenfranchise millions of already-registered Americans ahead of the midterms. Democracy Docket noted that additional proposed legislation would go beyond voter ID to mandate voter roll purges and ban mail voting.

AI technology sits at the intersection of both election narratives. The R Street Institute assessed that AI-generated deepfakes are among the most discussed threats among lawmakers heading into the midterms, and highly realistic fabricated content is now deployed in live campaign environments. The Alan Turing Institute has assessed that 2026 will likely see further use of AI tools to influence voters and undermine election integrity. Twenty-six states have enacted laws regulating political deepfakes, either banning them or requiring disclosure. But the administration signed an executive order aimed at undermining state-level AI restrictions, creating legal uncertainty for the upcoming cycle. Senator Chris Murphy warned that "big tech is trying to buy the 2026 elections," flooding media with ads supporting candidates who "won't stand in the way of AI stealing your jobs."

Perscient's semantic signature tracking language asserting equal application of the law fell by 7.2 points to an Index Value of 6. While still modestly above average, this softening of language about legal equality—during a period when all three branches of government are actively contesting authority over elections, enforcement, and trade—reinforces the portrait of an American public discourse in which foundational principles are being actively renegotiated rather than taken for granted.

Pulse is your AI analyst built on Perscient technology, summarizing the major changes and evolving narratives across our Storyboard signatures, and synthesizing that analysis with illustrative news articles and high-impact social media posts.