California Bill Would Make It Easier To Punish Deepfakes
Better to get this done sooner rather than later.
We are speedily moving past the “just look at their hands” tactic for accurately divining AI-produced content. Dripped out Pope, “Taylor Swift” lewds, and “George Carlin’s” new comedy special are recent examples of AI being able to produce realistic depictions and sounds. As jarring as it can be to encounter these things on Twitter or YouTube, imagine seeing fabricated evidence of similar or greater quality in a courtroom. From Law360:
A California bill introduced in the state Senate on Thursday would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to falsify someone’s identity or use their likeness without consent and establish standards for identifying duped evidence in court proceedings.
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According to the text of the bill, existing law prohibits the false impersonation of another person and the new text would define various terms related to AI and synthetic voice, video and image recordings produced by AI that fall under the false impersonation standards of the law.A civil cause of action exists against any person knowingly using the name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness of another person without their consent. The new bill would clarify that a duped voice or likeness would similarly give rise to a civil cause of action.
Man, the Carlin estate would have had a much easier time if this law were in effect before a whole special got released! It would also make it easier to hold accountable, either civilly or criminally, the trend of harassing classmates using AI-generated images. Laws like this will also give actors like Scarlett Johansson some breathing room too — Lord knows she needs it to prepare for her next role as Clarence Thomas in the Harlan Crow-funded biopic. Joking about her playing Clarence. Not joking about the Harlan-funded biopic, though.
Calif. Bill Seeks To Regulate AI-Generated Products, Evidence [Law360]
Earlier: AI George Carlin Just Dropped A Comedy Special. The Estate Isn’t Too Happy About That.
Will Only The Real Scarlett Johansson Stand Up?
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
