In January, over 20,000 voters in New Hampshire received phone calls purportedly from President Joe Biden, urging them to skip the state’s presidential primary. However, it wasn’t Biden speaking; rather, his voice was manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI).
As a response to this incident, lawmakers in New Hampshire are now pushing for legislation to ban deepfake phone calls within 90 days of an election unless they are accompanied by a disclosure stating that AI technology was used. The bill has passed the state House and is moving on to the Senate, according to Roll Call.
New Hampshire is just one of 39 states considering similar legislation to mandate transparency regarding AI-generated deepfake ads or calls, as reported by Roll Call. Recently, Wisconsin enacted comparable legislation, imposing a $1,000 fine per violation for non-compliance.
Meanwhile, in Florida, legislation has been approved that could lead to criminal charges if AI-generated messages are not disclosed. However, this bill is awaiting the signature of Republican Governor DeSantis.
In Arizona, lawmakers are deliberating on a proposal that would require disclaimers to be issued 90 days before an election, with repeated violations carrying felony charges.
At the federal level, several bipartisan bills are in progress that seek to prohibit the use of AI-generated content targeting candidates for federal office.
Beyond legislative efforts, technology companies are also taking steps to combat AI misuse. In February, a coalition of companies, including Adobe, Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and TikTok, pledged to adopt “reasonable precautions” to prevent AI tools from disrupting democratic elections globally.
These companies have committed to a voluntary framework outlining measures to detect and label deceptive AI content on their platforms. They also agreed to share best practices and respond promptly and proportionately to the dissemination of such content. Additionally, twelve other companies, including Elon Musk’s X, are signing onto this initiative.
