HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut lawmakers are pushing for stronger protections against the use of artificial intelligence.
They’re specifically focusing on interference in elections and, with the November races just nine weeks away, they say new laws are needed now.
“Right now in this election season, artificial technology is the Wild West,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D-CT).
Whether it’s through deep fakes, robo calls, or misinformation, artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger part of the campaign cycle.
“With artificial intelligence, with about the same resource at the same time and the same budget, you can generate thousands, tens of thousands of directed messages, directed at specific voters,” Adam Powell, executive director of the USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative, said.
Powell says elections have significantly changed in the last eight years.
“We're seeing lots of disinformation and misinformation, some of it coming from overseas and some of it coming domestically,” continued Powell. “Some of them may look like they're coming from a relative. Some of them make what may look like they're coming from your boss, but they're actually coming from an impostor, and they may say this candidate is good or that candidate is better. They may also have erroneous information. They may also say, 'Oh the election district has moved your voting place or the time of the election this year has changed.'”
That’s why Blumenthal introduced new bipartisan legislation in the Senate to require disclaimers on political ads with images, audio, or video substantially generated by AI. This measure would also require the Federal Election Commission to address any violations quickly.
“Anything goes because we have no effective protections requiring disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence technology and penalties for distortion of deep fakes or impersonation… Safeguards are paramount during the election season," Blumenthal said.
While Powell says states are in a much better place than eight or even four years ago, he believes measures like Blumenthal’s are necessary to protect voters.
“So far, we seem to be doing pretty well. Now, you don't want to get overconfident. You can't, you don't want to say, 'Oh, we're 100% safe.' Nothing is 100% safe,” Powell added. “This is a new way of misleading voters and so we need new ways of defending against them.”
Blumenthal is currently co-sponsoring this measure with Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Blumenthal says the bill does have bipartisan support and believes it could pass in the next two weeks, before the November elections, but says that would take resolve on the part of Congress and strong bipartisan support across the board.
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Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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