AI in Court

Brent Skorup | 11.22.2024 11:40 AM

AI-generated media today is astonishingly high-quality and produces images and audio that are nearly indistinguishable from reality, and video isn't far behind. But with this progress comes a new wave of legal and ethical battles.

Lawmakers are alarmed by deepfakes—synthetic media that mimic reality—fearing their potential to destroy reputations, especially in high-stakes election campaigns. Yet some of the new state deepfake laws raise serious First Amendment concerns.

While "political misinformation" has become a focus of the Democratic Party in the past few years, Republicans also object to AI-assisted media deployed opportunistically to harm their candidates' reputations. Deepfake fears have sparked rare bipartisan action, with nearly one-third of states passing laws to regulate their use during elections.

Most laws targeting deepfakes stick to civil penalties, but at least Texas and Minnesota take it further, criminalizing synthetic media intended to "influence an........

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