Pa. lawmaker wants to limit how political campaigns use AI
State Rep. Doyle Heffley (R., Carbon) said he'll introduce legislation to ban the use of artificially generated voices in campaign calls. One Pennsylvania congressional candidate has been using it.
Robocalls of President Joe Biden’s voice telling voters in New Hampshire not to vote? AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump with fake Black supporters? Biden and Trump doing a salsa?
Artificial intelligence is already wreaking havoc on the 2024 election.
Before AI takes Clout’s job (and maybe your job, too), state lawmakers want to block political campaigns from using AI-generated voices. State Rep. Doyle Heffley (R., Carbon) said he plans to introduce legislation to ban the practice, saying “technology can create fake voices that are incredibly close to that of the original subject.”
And it’s very easy to do. Use any online AI generator, and you can get a believable rendition of a U.S. president saying anything you’d like. (We’ve come a long way from presidential lip dubs.)
At least one major AI-image generator is considering banning the software from making political images of Biden and Trump to avoid misinformation about the election.
AI has already made its way into Pennsylvania politics. An AI robot named “Ashley” is being used to make calls for Democrat Shamaine Daniels’ congressional campaign. Daniels, who is vying to challenge U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.), was the first candidate in the world to use the technology.
State House Republicans formed an AI Opportunity Task Force to protect residents from abuses in AI and also to harness its opportunities, House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) said.
”The time has passed for asking ‘Should we utilize AI?’” Cutler said in a news release last month. “We already are; this change is irreversible. Rather, the time is now to ask, ‘How can we, as the entrusted public servants of this Commonwealth, utilize AI in order to achieve what is so important to all of us[?]”
Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.