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A view of the US Capitol on May 16, 2023.
CNN
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A group of Democratic lawmakers are urging the Federal Election Commission to consider cracking down on the use of artificial intelligence technology in political advertising, warning that deceptive advertising could undermine the health of next year’s elections.
In a letter to be sent to the FEC on Thursday, a group of lawmakers led by California Representative Adam Schiff said the FEC’s current laws against “fraudulent misrepresentation” in political advertising also apply to advertising uses such as: It should be made clear that Called deepfakes – fake videos or images created using AI.
According to a copy of the letter obtained by CNN, lawmakers said, “Rapidly evolving AI technology is making it increasingly difficult for voters to accurately identify fraudulent video and audio material, and in the context of election advertising. It’s becoming more of a problem,” he said. Schiff’s co-signatories included Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico.
The letter supports a request from Public Citizen, a non-profit advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader, to ask the FEC to initiate a public consultation process on the issue.
Legislators said existing U.S. law already “cannot fraudulently disguise candidates as speaking or representing other candidates or parties on matters that harm them.” prohibited,” the lawmakers wrote.
Advertisements created using AI could likewise “allow candidates to fraudulently misrepresent themselves and disrupt the democratic processes that serve our country,” they continued.
Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign apparently used deepfake images in social media videos to falsely portray former President Donald Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci. Twitter later added Community Notes, a post-poster-driven feature that highlights misinformation on its social media platform, to the post, stating in the video, “Three stills of Trump hugging Fauci were generated by AI. It’s an image that’s been shot,” he warned site users. The rest of the recordings and images in the ad are authentic. ”
In a separate letter to the FEC on Thursday, Public Citizen said that this rapidly developing technology “almost certainly would require First Amendment protections against political expression, opinion and political expression.” It will create opportunities for political players to deploy this technology to deceive voters in ways that go far beyond.” Or satire. A politician could use AI technology to create videos that show opponents making offensive remarks or accepting bribes. ”
The group had petitioned the FEC on the issue in May. Three Republicans on the agency voted against it, while three Democrats on the agency voted for it. The result was a dead end, and the proposal was unable to move forward.
In explaining some of his opposition to Public Citizen’s initial petition, one of the agency’s Republican commissioners, Allen Dickerson, said Congress had sufficient powers for the FEC to regulate deceptive deepfakes in political advertising. He said he believes he does not give.
