By Sara Wilson
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold wants to get ahead of any threats that artificial intelligence technology could pose to the election process by requiring disclaimers on political communications generated by AI.
It is one of the Democrat’s legislative priorities this year in advance of the 2024 general election.
“Coloradans and voters deserve to know when political content they’re consuming is real, or whether it has been generated, manipulated, deepfaked or been enhanced by AI,” Griswold said during press conference on Jan 25, with the state lawmakers running her desired bills.
She said AI technology can “supercharge” the misinformation threats already persistent online by making it easier and faster to produce fake content.
She is especially concerned about deepfakes — manipulated, realistic-looking videos or photos created using AI that can show political actors doing or saying something they didn’t.
Coloradans and voters deserve to know when political content they’re consuming is real, or whether it has been generated, manipulated, deepfaked or been enhanced by AI.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold
There have already been instances of the use of AI in politics. In July, a political action committee that supported former presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used an AI version of Donald Trump’s voice in an advertisement attacking the former president. The New Hampshire attorney general is investigating a robocall that allegedly used an AI version of President Joe Biden’s voice to discourage voter turnout in the state’s presidential primary.
“These are the kinds of things that we don’t want voters to hear without some kind of disclaimer saying, ‘This is not the person you are expecting it to be.’ We should be gauging our support of candidates by the things they actually said,” said Rep. Brianna Titone, an Arvada Democrat who will sponsor the AI bill.
The bill would require that AI-generated content that includes Colorado candidates or office holders feature a disclaimer. Violations would be subject to civil enforcement similar to campaign finance charges.
California, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin have laws that address AI in elections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Tribal voter access
This year, Griswold also wants legislation to criminalize fake elector schemes, such as the one allegedly devised by Trump and his allies in 2020 to retain the presidency when people met and signed false certificates declaring Trump, not Biden, to be the winner of the state’s vote.
While fake electors in some states have been charged with forgery, the attorney general in New México could not charge that state’s fake electors because there is not a relevant enough state law for the situation.
“What we have seen across the nation is that charges against fake electors are very much dependent on state law,” she said. “I don’t think that charging a fake elector or someone trying to defraud the American people and Coloradans should be dependent on a secondary law — did the person commit forgery? Did they commit perjury? This law is very specific on this exact crime.”
Griswold also wants to continue work on expanding voter access among the state’s two recognized tribes by requiring periodic meetings between the secretary of state and tribal leaders on the issue.
Sara Wilson is a Reporter with Colorado Newsline. This article is republished from Colorado Newsline under a Creative Commons license.
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