MichMash: Michigan lawmakers want to regulate AI

A new bipartisan bill in the Michigan House would require disclaimers on political ‘deepfakes’ and campaign ads that use artificial intelligence.

Michigan House of Representatives chamber in Lansing.

Michigan House of Representatives chamber in Lansing.

The Michigan House of Representatives is looking to regulate artificial intelligence ahead of the 2024 elections. State Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) joined guest MichMash host Jake Neher from the Automotive News to break down the bipartisan sponsored bill package. 


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In this episode:

  • The bipartisan bill to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in campaign ads
  • What technology or methods will be used to assess if something was warped by artificial intelligence
  • Whether or not the regulation of artificial intelligence stifles free speech

Rep. Tsernoglou says the use of artificial intelligence in campaign advertisements is more prevalent than ever before.

“We’re seeing a lot more deep fakes and use of AI to generate various images and audio,” she said. “Going forward this can cause confusion, misinformation, and voters could really be misled by images and sound that is really indistinguishable from real images and sound, so we need to regulate this area so that voters aren’t being misled.”

The bill package would require a disclaimer in any political content created with the assistance of AI, and gives penalties for those trying to mislead voters with deep fakes or political content utilizing AI to deceive voters. While critics of the legislation say it could stifle free speech, Tsernoglou disagrees, saying it doesn’t suppress the First Amendment and doesn’t even ban artificial intelligence. 

“We are just requiring that you put a disclaimer that it is materially deceptive content or that it is created by AI so that people know that it is,” she said, noting the bill’s similarity to current regulations requiring “paid for” disclaimers for political content.

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Author

  • Hernz Laguerre
    Hernz Laguerre Jr. is a Multimedia Journalist at 101.9 WDET. He is one of the co-host for "Detroit Evening Report," one of the weekend anchors for "Weekend Edition," the producer for our political podcast, "MichMash," and reports on arts, culture and politics.