The House of Representatives of Pennsylvania unanimously adopted a law regulating the apply of artificial intelligence “deep” in election campaigns, attaching to the growing list of countries trying to apply handrails to technology and the way it is used.
“It is so difficult to say what is real and what is not real,” said the representative of Tarik Khan, the main sponsor of Bill, whose district includes East Falls, Roxborough and other Philly Philly districts.
“We must make sure that our regulations keep up with technology to protect society,” he said.
“Deepfake” or hyperrealistic movies, photos, photos and sound usually created with the intention of cheating have become more and more widespread and easier to make as AI The technology has improved. Has more than two dozen states Provisions regulating deep AI cabinets have already been adopted in electionsAnd now Pennsylvania joins 13 others with expecting regulations.
Advertisements in the Deepfake campaign have been used in recent years in local, state and national breeds, including this spring in the Governor’s Governor’s based on New Jersey. Former mayor of Shreveport, la. Advertising Deepfake showing him as a falling high school student He was “one hundred percent”, why he lost his re -election in 2022.
Last year in North Carolina, a democratic donor announced an advertisement with the voice of the republican candidate Marek Robinson, generated by AI, saying real, bizarre quotes he made in other places, such “Movement for civil rights was nonsense.” Until now, the most famed matter was Deepfake Robocall impersonating Joe Biden This encouraged the inhabitants of New Hampshire not to vote for the basic presidential. A man behind the conversations He was acquitted About the most earnest allegations of suppressing voters, although a telecommunications company, which gave the message Pay a fine of $ 1 million.
While most deep wardrobes have not had clear racing effects so far, and they have campaigns generally resistance using AI adsThis can change when AI is improved and its apply becomes even more common.
If it was implemented, in Pennsylvania, the house of House Bill 811 would require advertising campaigns widespread within 90 days of elections that apply deep cabinets to clearly reveal that what is shown did not really occur.
Without this disclosure that advertising uses a deep scope, its dissemination may be subject to civil penalties and daily fines. In the race for the Municipal Public Office, the court may issue a fine of up to USD 15,000 per day, advertising is divided, while in the presidential or congress race a fine can reach USD 250,000 per day.
The bill is now moved to the State Senate to consider.
Catching up
Until then, the development and growing apply of AI overtook many efforts to regulate it. This includes many unsolved legal questions in And in what extent students should be able to apply AI in schools or how responsible AI companies when people develop intensive emotional relationships with chatbots.
Meanwhile, the realistic nature of deep photos and movies has improved significantly. It used to be easier to notice the lips that did not move completely to the right, speech on the piles Real and false is easier to blur.
The creators mainly generate these media for purposes outside the influence on elections, for example Involvement in social media or creating them Favorite stars look good.
The legislators slowly made some progress in the grounds. Governor Josh Shapiro signed a separate bill on July 7, which changes the state act Turn on deep cabinets as a form of digital forgery. In October, Shapiro approved another deep bill, which prohibits the apply of artificial intelligence to create child pornography And not encountering images of deep -fired adults.
The path is clear for more handrails after the US Senate voted 99-1 Strj in the proposed 10-year moratorium for regulating AI From the expenditure account of President Donald Trump this month (although each Act on AI signed provisions before a federal spending bill would be able to stand).
Khan said he and other sponsors of PA. Bill, including the main republican republican representative Jeremy Shaffer from Allegheny, decided to focus on the election, because it is a topic that they know better than anyone else, and that maintaining the integrity of the election was crucial because technology accelerates.
The trust of society in Pennsylvania was particularly unstable both after the presidential race in 2020 and leading to elections in 2024.. Although in both cases there was no universal fraud, President Trump and his supporters sent numerous accusations that the elections were stolen in Pennsylvania, dominant social mediaAnd ultimately led to the creation of January 6.
Khan’s legislative team took inspiration from the electoral provisions of other countries while writing the law, and tried to find a space between establishing security for society while maintaining the right to freedom of speech, and not suppressing creativity.
But is it going far enough?
State representative Paul Takac from the Center County and a member of the Committee for Communication and Technology of the Chamber said that although the Act is a good first step, he does not think that he is going quite far.
“Evil actors have many possibilities to undermine our democratic process. This window of possibilities exists not only 90 days before the election and this does not end at midnight on the election night,” he said.
Takac supports a fragment of the Act, but would like to strengthen the regulation in the future. “I think that we must be open to the extension of these restrictions,” he said, suggesting that the law should also include people who are not directly related to campaigns that are malicious choices, for example.
Although the law is not aggressive, it is still critical that Pennsylvania begins to apply the apply of AI Deepfake in the election, according to Mekela Pananditharatne, senior adviser to Brennan Center for Justice, an impartial Institute of Law and Policy.
“I think it is important for you to take action to solve this problem,” she said, describing the PA Act. As quite similar to the provisions on elections in elections. He believes that one of the reasons why the attack of the cruel advertisements of the Deepfake campaign was not yet, is that the acts of state legislation adopted by the county acted as a deterrent.
“It seems that responsible campaigns carefully use generative artificial intelligence. And I do not know if it was without a conversation that happened around him,” she said.
She agreed that there is a point where more warnings about abuse AI could move too far the perception of people in the opposite direction, where they begin not to trust reality. Called “Liar’s dividend“An outbreak of public knowledge of deep wardrobes means that people can convince more about the truth generated AI, for example, when Trump claimed that huge images Kamala Harris Rally Camp They were false.
“A higher level of skepticism is required for digital content in the AI generative era than previously required, but it may also have disadvantages when authentic information is easier to interrogate or distrust,” said Panditharatne. “Thus, efforts in the field of public education must be balanced and cautious, and not cause that people reflexively question the content, especially when this can affect their right to vote or other important issues.”
Khan is excited about the promise of artificial intelligence and hopes that this technology is still improved and introduced innovation. But with such an explosive potential he said that security must be managed.
“We went from using Abacus to computers. It’s such a big jump,” he said.
The bill now goes to the State Senate Technology and Communication Committee for consideration. The Senate has no return to the session by September.
