04/24/2024

States Race to Counter AI Fakes Before the 2024 Election

Many of these laws focus on transparency by requiring AI disclosures

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver was at a conference on election security last year when she had what she describes as an "oh crap, this is happening" moment. The potential for AI-generated disinformation and deepfakes to disrupt this year’s national elections was the "hottest topic among election administrators" at the event, Toulouse Oliver said, with one terrifying scenario unfolding after another in conversations. As her state’s top election official, she realized time was running out to set up New Mexico’s defenses ahead of this year’s vote. “That was really my wake-up call,” she said.

Thanks in part to that epiphany, New Mexico enacted a new law last month requiring political campaigns to disclose whenever they use AI in their ads, and making it a crime to use AI-generated content to intentionally deceive voters. The focus on “malicious intent” was key, said Toulouse Oliver. "We're cognizant of the First Amendment and we don't want to unfairly penalize folks," she said. These new measures will go hand-in-hand with a new public campaign to raise awareness about AI content targeting voters, which will incorporate TV, radio, billboards and a digital campaign.

Toulouse Oliver’s efforts are part of a larger trend. Skeptical that the federal government and social media companies will impose significant guardrails on AI content ahead of November's election, state and local officials have moved quickly to take matters into their own hands. More than 100 bills have recently been introduced or passed in 39 state legislatures that contain provisions to restrict the potential for AI-altered or generated election disinformation, according to an analysis by the Voting Rights Lab, a group that tracks voting legislation.

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