Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) said in a recent interview that he will continue to push for regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in elections.
“Look, deepfakes are a very serious threat to this democracy. If people can no longer believe that the person they are hearing speak is actually the person, this democracy has suffered – and will suffer – in ways we have never seen before,” Schumer said last week in a statement. interview with NBC News. “And if people just walk away from democracy, only God knows what will happen.”
With less than 100 days until the November elections, Schumer spoke to the media outlet about the impact AI could have on the electoral process. He said he hopes to bring more AI legislation to the Senate floor in the coming months.
His recent push to regulate emerging technology in the election comes after billionaire Elon Musk shared a fake video of Vice President Harris using AI to imitate her voice and spew insults about her campaign and President Biden — who dropped out of the 2024 race last month and subsequently endorsed the vice president.
It also follows a robocall earlier in the election cycle that used a fake Biden-like voice that pressured voters to stay out of the New Hampshire primary.
AI-generated political ads have also invaded the 2024 elections. Last year, the Republican National Committee released an entirely AI-generated ad aimed at showing a dystopian future under a second Biden term. It employed fake but realistic photos, showing boarded-up storefronts, armored military patrols on the streets, and waves of immigrants creating panic.
Schumer said in Thursday’s interview that deepfake AI bills were supported by both sides of the aisle while in committee and called on Republicans to continue to support the effort.
“They had some bipartisan support in the committee, senator. [Amy] Klobuchar did a good job of passing, and one of them is just eliminating all AI in commercials and solicitations,” he told the outlet. “And the other one at least has disclosures, so you know AI is used.”
“These are American banknotes. We will fight because democracy is at great risk. We will fight to achieve this in every way we can. And we hope that our Republican friends will identify, because I said we have some Republican support”, said the Senate leader. “This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. Democracy will be at risk if we allow these deepfakes to prevail.”
The Senate Rules Committee settled a trio of bills earlier this year to target AI in elections, including the Protecting Elections from Deceptive AI Act and the AI Transparency in Elections Act.
The Protecting Elections from Deceptive AI Act would prohibit the use of AI to create deceptive content that falsely portrays federal candidates in political ads to influence elections. The AI Transparency in Elections Act would require disclosures for ads with AI-generated content.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
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