Evaluation of Deepfakes Proposals in Congress
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Over the last year as advancements in AI systems have accelerated, there has been a dramatic increase in the production and proliferation of deepfakes on the internet. Deepfakes in this context may be defined as pictures, videos, and audio that depict a person without their consent, usually for the purpose of harming that person or misleading those who are exposed to the material. Prominent recent examples include pornographic deepfake material targeting Taylor Swift and fake robocalls purporting to be from President Biden targeting voters in New Hampshire. Such synthetic content poses a fundamental threat to democracy and elections, makes Americans vulnerable to increasingly intricate fraudulent schemes, and enables non-consensual pornography.
In order to combat these threats and restrict the production and proliferation of deepfakes, Members of Congress have introduced several proposals to regulate deepfakes. We offer the graphic below as an accessible and concise summary of these legislative proposals as of March 6th, 2024.
See here for our recommendations on various deepfake proposals in the US.
About the Future of Life Institute
The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a global non-profit with a team of 20+ full-time staff operating across the US and Europe. FLI has been working to steer the development of transformative technologies towards benefitting life and away from extreme large-scale risks since its founding in 2014. Find out more about our mission or explore our work.