Dem
51
GOP
49
Deepfakes generated by AI are proliferating. The DHS is warning election authorities about how they could mislead voters and influence elections. A dozen or so states have passed laws trying to fight the problem. Some of them require candidates to label AI-generated content as such, with penalties if they fail to do so. In some states, it is serious. In Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and New Mexico a candidate can go to prison. However, in some other states, it is a joke. In Utah and Wisconsin the penalty is $1,000. In Oregon it is $10,000. If a campaign has spent $10,000 making an ad and many thousands more buying air time to broadcast it, adding another $1,000 to the bill is simply a cost of doing business. You do it, you get fined, and you pay the fine promptly. Rinse and repeat.
And, of course, this applies only if the perpetrator can be caught. If an outsider not (formally) connected to a campaign posts a deepfake on YouTube, the police have to first notice that some video is a deepfake, then figure out who done it and then catch him. If he lives in St. Petersburg, Russia, that could be a bit complicated. In reality that is rarely, if ever, going to happen.
The law could be written differently, of course, holding the platform responsible. If a deepfake is posted to YouTube, then YouTube would be responsible and subject to the fine, not that a $1,000 fine is likely to bother Google very much. But it could be vastly larger—for example, $1,000 for each time someone viewed it. Needless to say, the tech companies would oppose this with everything they've got. However, since neither the Democrats nor the Republicans especially like them, there is potential for doing something here.
The FCC voted earlier this year to outlaw the use of AI-generated voices in robocalls. However, the rule hasn't been finalized yet and may not be before the election. So it is legal to make up a recording that sounds like Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, call millions of people, and have the candidate "say" outrageous things. But even after the rule is finalized, it can be enforced only if the robocalls can be traced back to a campaign. If an outsider financed by dark money is making the calls, catching him and proving that he was the one who generated the calls will be very difficult. (V)