LANSING – Today in the state House of Representatives, bipartisan legislation was introduced by Rep. Tsernoglou (D – East Lansing) and Rep. Bierlein (R – Vassar) that would require a disclaimer on political advertisements that contain audio, images, or videos that were generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI), and create penalties for trying to use deepfakes, to deceive and influence voters close to an election.
- HB 5141 requires a disclaimer on political advertisements IF they were created in whole or in part by Artificial Intelligence
- HB 5142 and HB 5145 define the sentencing for violation of HB 5141.
- HB 5143 defines Artificial Intelligence, tie-barred to the HB 5141.
- HB 5144 would punish those who distribute materially deceptive media (deep fakes) within 90 days of an election with the intent of influencing voters.
Voters Not Politicians, the state’s leading grassroots pro-democracy organization, supports this much-needed bipartisan legislation and today called for it to be urgently passed. “AI technology poses a very clear and urgent threat to our democracy and our elections,” said Kim Murphy-Kovalick, Programs Director of Voters Not Politicians. “Bad actors can use this widely available technology to deceive voters and influence elections through disinformation and outright lies. If lawmakers don’t act to protect voters now, AI deepfakes and disinformation will become a much bigger threat by the 2024 election. Voters Not Politicians fully supports this legislation that will protect voters from undue influence of disinformation and deception, and we’re hoping to see it move quickly through the legislature with strong bipartisan support.”
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Voters Not Politicians is a nonpartisan advocacy organization that works to strengthen democracy by engaging people across Michigan in effective citizen action. Learn more at www.votersnotpoliticians.com.
