It does not seem clear if they knew it was Ai generated. The creator seems to think his marks were none the wiser, as evidenced by the liberal version experiment and his comments therein.
I am trying to refrain from being so derogatory and place the most likely reasoning on the loneliness epidemic.
If 1/3 Americans have in fact had a "romantic relationship" with Ai, that would be more than all of the MAGA men. Teens and the elderly are also above average.
They wanted a mirage, this guy sold it to them