Congress Fails to Deliver on Promised AI Rules to Safeguard Elections!

Congress appears unlikely to pass any of the laws it has been promising to safeguard this year’s election from the threat of artificial intelligence.

With experts warning about threats to democracy from AI deepfakes that mislead voters, lawmakers said they had to act — and they introduced multiple bills this year that could have banned deepfakes in elections and mandated clear labels on AI-generated content.

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Those efforts are foundering despite the appetite for laws and some bipartisan support. Interviews with lawmakers and Hill staff and a reading of fall’s brief remaining legislative schedule suggest that time has already run out for what was supposed to be a top priority — protecting elections from a powerful tool of deception.

It’s a dramatic comedown from when the Senate first began grappling with generative AI last year, dedicating a full closed-door meeting with experts to the threat AI posed to elections.

Schumer did not confirm whether the leading bills to regulate AI-generated election content are toast this Congress, but in an emailed statement, he hinted he had extended his timeline.

Young and his fellow Republican in Schumer’s AI group, Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, did not immediately respond to questions on AI and elections.

Republicans have already blocked Senate bills to regulate voter-facing AI-generated content, with no indication that anything will change before Nov. 5.

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The House is even further behind, with a planned report containing legislative recommendations on a number of AI issues — including the use of generative AI in elections — yet to be released.

For the remaining weeks of the 2024 campaign, that means the only safeguards against deepfakes in elections are in states that passed their own laws and in federal agencies that have stepped in — though they are hamstrung by the limits of their power and internal partisan fights.

Americans first reckoned with the malicious use of generative AI in elections back in February when deepfaked robocalls impersonating the voice of President Joe Biden targeted New Hampshire voters, telling them not to vote in the state primary.

By May, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) had introduced a trio of bills for markup. One would prepare election administrators for AI. Another would ban deepfakes of federal political candidates, and a third would require disclosures on AI-manipulated political ads.

Introducing and putting in place are two totally different things 🤔

— Tired American (@TiredAmerican11) June 8, 2023

The Senate Rules Committee advanced all three in May, despite Republican fears of hampering technical innovation and free speech. But the two bills about voter-facing AI-generated content failed to pass a unanimous consent Senate vote in July.

Rules Committee ranking member Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), whose objection tanked the unanimous consent vote, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Still, she appeared to be making contingency plans.

Klobuchar’s bills were the highest profile on AI in elections and gathered support from Republicans including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Maine’s Susan Collins, and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski. None of them responded immediately to requests for comment.

In the House, work on AI has stalled even further behind. Bipartisan House leadership launched a task force in February. The task force has been meeting regularly to discuss legislative proposals on AI but has yet to recommend any laws for passage.

Finally some progress to fix this bs. Americans need to have confidence in their elections.

— Patri(th)ot (@shhhtevenray) June 7, 2023

The task force’s assigned deliverable — a report that will guide the House’s actions on AI — is still in the drafting process with no set release date.

Task force Chair Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

My question is why hasn’t this the standard for every state already? All of it is common sense.

— pragmatikos (@kemz71) June 7, 2023

Given the state of the proposals and the pace of lawmaking in Washington, “It’s not realistic to expect action” before elections, said Minnesota’s Democratic state Secretary Steve Simon.

She has watched Congress closely as his state passed its own law in 2023 to criminalize deepfakes in elections and updated it the following year to remove candidates from running or from office if they are found guilty of using deepfakes in elections.

Yes!! Secure our elections!

— LeCompte Blaise (@lecompteblaise1) June 7, 2023

Eighteen other states have passed laws to limit deepfakes in elections, according to Public Citizen’s tracker. Weissman said the laws are no substitute for federal law, but they do indicate an appetite for action.

In the meantime, agencies have used their powers to prosecute the misuse of AI, using existing rules.

Following the New Hampshire robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to the Texas telecom company that carried the calls on its network.

Won’t get past Senate or Oval Office.

— Bobby Westlake (@bobbymcgee_1960) June 12, 2023

The agency later proposed a $2 million fine against Lingo Telecom (which later settled for $1 million) and a $6 million fine against 55-year-old Steven Kramer of New Orleans for using call-spoofing technology.

Though FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has said she wants to write new rules to regulate AI in campaign materials airing on TV and radio, efforts there are hitting the same Washington calendar.

She published a proposal in July, and the FCC will be collecting public comment on the rules through nearly mid-October.

I hope there is a ban on dead voters, too

— XRSea (@XRSea1) June 7, 2023

It is highly unlikely the commission will vote on finalizing a rule before Election Day, and almost impossible the rule would take effect before the vote.

There has been a bit of jostling between the FCC and the Federal Elections Commission, where the Republican chair, Sean Cooksey, has insisted that only his agency has authority to enforce election law.

The FEC’s Democratic vice chair, Ellen Weintraub, said that she saw little possibility that her Republican-controlled panel would issue new rules on AI in elections. At best, she said the FEC could potentially rule on individual cases of election fraud.

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