As the 2024 Presidential election nears, concerns are growing about the threat of artificial intelligence.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon went before a bipartisan Senate hearing in Washington Wednesday where he talked about the role the technology plays in elections.
"Artificial intelligence is not a threat to American democracy in and of itself," Simon explained. "But it is an emerging and powerful amplifier of existing threats. All of us who touch the election process must be watchful and proactive, especially as the 2024 Presidential contest approaches."
Simon added that while AI can have benefits, it needs to be controlled.
"In the wrong hands, AI could be used to misdirect intentionally, in ways that are far more advanced than ever," Simon said.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and her colleagues have introduced the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, seeking to ban the use of AI to generate deceptive content.
“Right now, we’re seeing AI used as a tool to influence our democracy,” said Klobuchar. “We need rules of the road in place to stop the use of fraudulent AI-generated content in campaign ads. Voters deserve nothing less than full transparency. This commonsense, bipartisan legislation would update our laws to prohibit these deceptive ads from being used to mislead voters no matter what party they belong to.”
The bill would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to prohibit the distribution of materially deceptive AI-generated audio, images, or video relating to federal candidates in political ads or certain issue ads to influence a federal election or fundraise.
The bill allows federal candidates targeted by this materially deceptive content to have content taken down and enables them to seek damages in federal court. This ban extends to a person, political committee, or other entity that distributes materially deceptive content intended to influence an election or raise money fraudulently. Consistent with the First Amendment, the bill has exceptions for parody, satire, and the use of AI-generated content in news broadcasts.
