Wisconsin requires labeling of AI-generated materials in campaign ads
The Wisconsin state legislature last week passed aiming to curb the use of AI-generated deepfake materials in political campaigns.
The bipartisan bill requires election campaigns to disclose when political advertisements use “synthetic media,” defined by its authors as “audio or video content substantially produced by generative artificial intelligence,” in which a language model creates text, images or other data in response to specific prompts.
Under Wisconsin’s new law, the label “Contains content generated by AI,” must be applied at the beginning and end of all campaign-related audio and visual media distributed to the public, with violators risking up to a $1,000 penalty for each offense.
The midwestern state joins California, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Washington, states that have passed similar legislation. The trend reflects a growing concern across the United States ahead of the 2024 presidential election that artificial intelligence could be used to mislead voters and erode election integrity.
In December, Florida lawmakers introduced a bill that would regulate the use of generative AI in political advertising after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used AI to generate misleading images of Donald Trump.
