Legislatures in 41 states passed more than 100 laws governing artificial intelligence last year, according to a report. analysis by New York University, and a number of these laws took effect Wednesday.
California, home of Silicon Valley, is leading the way with half a dozen new AI laws will come into force on January 1. Many are demanding more transparency for AI-generated content, said Marian Waldmann Agarwal of law firm Morrison Foerster.
“You know, you don’t want any person or company using artificial intelligence in a deceptive way,” she said.
The use of AI-generated or digitally altered content in political advertisements, for example, must now be labeled.
Two laws aimed at limiting election-related deepfakes and holding social media platforms accountable for their distribution are currently blocked in court over First Amendment concerns.
But the state now bans sexually explicit deepfakes. “We’re also seeing a lot of laws related to child pornography and child safety, and we’re making sure AI is included in those laws,” she said.
Attorney Arsen Kourinian of Mayer Brown said the Hollywood house also has new protections for creative artists.
“Companies can’t just generate AI content using someone’s image and put it on products for commercial purposes,” Kourinian said.
State law now requires more clarity in contracts regarding the use of digital likenesses and also requires that performers have professional legal representation.
A second law prohibits companies from using digital replicas of a deceased celebrity without permission from their estate. “Basically, it codifies this into a separate statute specifically related to AI,” Kourinian said.
State governments will likely play an even bigger role in regulating AI under Donald Trump’s second administration, said Scott Babwah Brennen of New York University’s Center on Technology Policy.
“He seems to be suggesting that he will take a more deregulatory stance and that he might be much slower to adopt, you know, a new type of regulation of AI at the federal level,” he said.
Although the pace of federal regulation may slow, the speed of technological changes that challenge our nation’s laws will not slow.
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