August 17, 2024 - Sacramento, CA - Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (AD-52, Los Angeles) issued the following statement regarding Thursday’s decision by the California State Senate Appropriations Committee to advance AB 2355.
“I’m grateful to my legislative colleagues for their support of AB 2355, my proposal to make disclosures of generative artificial intelligence use, part of existing transparency requirements. The availability of tools to doctor images, video, and sound is not new. However, rapid improvements in AI, Large Language Models, and applications that are capable of generating sound, images, and text, have already resulted in the creation of materials that are likely to pass off as convincingly real, when they are fake. As this technology becomes cheaper, faster and easier for the public to use, and is embraced by candidates and political campaigns, its effect on democracy requires us to act. Voters must be informed when generative AI is used in political advertising to substantially alter existing media, or create content that would falsely appear to be authentic to a reasonable person. This bill represents sensible regulations that aim to balance the use of advanced technology in political campaigns with the need to protect free speech and political expression” said Assemblywoman Carrillo.
AB 2355 focuses on activities of state campaign committees as defined by the Political Reform Act and moves enforcement responsibility to the Fair Political Practices Commission. Assemblywoman Carrillo is approaching this problem differently than any other proposal in not just California, but other states and on the Federal level by putting this under a body responsible for enforcing other political ad disclosures, like those that say who paid for an ad. She believes this is a better long term solution than leaving it to the courts to sort out, and hopes that her bill will inspire a universal transparency requirement.
Political candidates and parties in the United States and around the world already have experimented with rapidly advancing generative AI tools, though some have voluntarily disclosed their use of the technology. Others have weaponized the technology to mislead voters. The Federal Communications Commission has advanced a proposal that would require political advertisers to disclose their use of artificial intelligence in broadcast television and radio ads, though it is unclear whether new regulations may be in place before the November presidential election.
About Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo:
Assemblywoman Carrillo was elected to serve in the State Assembly in December 2017. She represents the 52nd Assembly District, which includes East Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, and South Glendale. She serves on the Assembly Committees on Appropriations, Emergency Management, Health, Labor and Employment, and the Joint Committee on Climate Change Policies. She also serves as the Chair of the Select Committee on Latina Inequities, Vice Chair of the Legislative Progressive Caucus, Commissioner for the California Film Commission, Commissioner for the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, and Member of the California Cultural and Historical Endowment Board.
Source: Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo
