Ahead of the general election, we are proactively introducing new legislation to restrict the use of “deepfakes,” that is, digitally altered videos and images created by artificial intelligence (AI), in election materials. An increasing number of states are doing so.
From voice cloning software to image generators, advanced generative AI tools have quickly become entrenched in national and international election cycles.
Last year, in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, a wave of innovation integrated AI-generated audio and images into election ads, as well as efforts toward AI chatbots to increase voter engagement. Ta.
This week, Wisconsin joined 20 other states that have introduced or passed election laws requiring campaigns to disclose when their ads are generated by AI.
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of state legislators passed by voice vote two bills addressing the use of AI during elections.
What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
The first bill, AB 664, would require all audio and video communications to be labeled as “contains AI-generated content” and would subject violators to penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. You risk being fined.
“We want voters to know that what you see is what you get,” Democratic Rep. Clinton Anderson, one of the bill’s main authors, said on the floor.
“With the advent of artificial intelligence, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to know what the truth is,” Rep. Adam Neylon, another co-author of the bill, said during the vote.
The second bill, AB 1068, would require Wisconsin state agencies to conduct audits of the use of AI tools to assess efficiency. These audits include tool inventory, guidelines overview, privacy policy, and data usage. Additionally, agencies will be required to report to Congress in 2026 on which state employee positions AI can optimize, with the goal of eliminating jobs that could be made more efficient with AI by 2030. There is.
Ahead of the vote, Republican Rep. Nate Gustafson reportedly said it was “absolutely false” that the law would be used to replace jobs for state workers.
Report warns that deepfakes will be indistinguishable from reality as early as 2024
In this illustrated photo from July 18, 2023, an illustration of artificial intelligence is seen on a laptop with a book in the background. (Jaap Arrians/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Axios reports that California and New York, the biggest AI tech states, have the most bills introduced in their state legislatures.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission announced: AI-generated robocallsIt is illegal to imitate a political candidate’s voice to deceive voters. The FCC’s ruling, effective immediately, criminalizes voice cloning technology used in common robocall scams targeting consumers.
This decision was announced a few days later New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said the heinous robocall was an AI-generated clone of President Biden’s voice urging recipients not to participate in the Jan. 23 primary and instead save their votes for the November election. It was revealed that the funds came from two companies in Texas.
“Ultimately, the threat that AI poses to the American election system is no different from the use of malware and ransomware that nation states and organized crime groups routinely deploy against our personal and corporate networks. ,” CyberRisk’s James Turgal told Fox News Digital in an interview this month.
“The fight to reduce these threats can and should be fought by both the U.S. government and the private sector.”
Fox News’ Daniel Wallace and Nicholas Lanum contributed to this report.
