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Pennsylvania Passes Bill Against Deceptive AI Deepfakes

Pennsylvania lawmakers address the growing concern of deepfake technology in the state Capitol.

News Summary

The Pennsylvania Senate has unanimously passed a bill criminalizing the use of deepfakes to deceive individuals. Aimed at enhancing public safety, this legislation extends the state’s forgery law to include fraudulent AI-generated likenesses. With growing concerns over a proposed federal budget that could impede state AI regulations, Pennsylvania lawmakers emphasize the importance of protecting constituents from potential digital fraud. The new law also ensures that parody and satire are safeguarded, but allows legal action against malicious deepfake usage.

Pennsylvania has taken a significant step to combat the use of deceptive AI technologies known as “deepfakes” by passing a new bill that criminalizes the act of presenting digitally-generated images as real. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Senate approved the bill unanimously, receiving a 50-0 vote. This legislation expands the state’s forgery law to include the fraudulent use of artificial intelligence-generated likenesses aimed at defrauding or causing harm to individuals.

The intent of the new law is to protect the public from the potential dangers posed by deepfakes, which can damage reputations or facilitate scams, particularly affecting vulnerable individuals. This move follows the state’s previous law that addressed the categorization of artificial images as related to child pornography and non-consensual dissemination of explicit material.

Despite the strong backing for the bill among Pennsylvania lawmakers, there are pressing concerns regarding a proposed federal budget measure. This measure could disrupt state oversight of artificial intelligence, as it specifically seeks to prevent states from enforcing any regulations related to AI for a decade. Reports suggest that the budget proposal gained traction due to lobbying from companies involved in AI development, which are wary of the varying state regulations that could emerge.

Senator Tracy Pennycuick has been vocal about the potential threat that this federal budget plan poses to state-level legislation aimed at AI regulation. Concerns are echoed across the political spectrum, with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers uniting to express their apprehension. They have signed a letter to Congress urging the reversal of this AI regulation suspension, highlighting the importance of allowing states to address technology-related issues proactively.

This Pennsylvania bill delineates clear boundaries regarding the use of digital likenesses while ensuring protections for expressions categorized as parody, satire, or other forms of speech that fall under the First Amendment. It allows for legal action only when there is demonstrable malicious intent involved in the use of deepfakes.

In addition to the deepfake legislation, current proposals in the Pennsylvania House call for requiring political campaigns to disclose any use of AI-generated imagery. This proposal aims to ensure transparency within the political sphere and to mitigate the potential misuse of AI technology in campaign tactics.

The timeline for the federal budget bill remains uncertain, as it faces numerous obstacles in the Senate that extend beyond the issue of AI regulation. The proposed budget plan, if passed in its current form, is anticipated to not only exacerbate the federal deficit and debt but could also lead to significant cuts in essential social programs like Medicaid.

As the federal government continues to deliberate on the contentious budget, the outcome may have overarching implications for various state regulations concerning artificial intelligence and the use of deepfakes. Pennsylvania’s legislative actions reflect a growing recognition of the need to adapt laws to rapidly evolving technology, but the potential federal restrictions could hinder the state’s efforts to safeguard its constituents against digital fraud.