HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Under a bill the House passed Wednesday, Pennsylvania consumers would be notified when content is generated by artificial intelligence, and defendants would be notified if their content was generated by artificial intelligence. It cannot be argued that child sexual abuse content is not illegal.
The bill's lead sponsor, Rep. Chris Pieri, said the bill aims to put guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence to protect consumers.
“This bill is simple,” Pieri, a Democrat from Chester County, said in remarks on the floor. “If it's AI, you have to say it's AI. Buyer beware.”
Lawmakers voted 146-54 to send the bill to the state Senate for consideration. All Democrats agreed, but Republicans were largely divided.
invoice It would change the state's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act to require “clear and conspicuous disclosure” if artificial intelligence is used to create text, images, audio or video.
This notice must be displayed the first time the content is displayed to a consumer. Violators would have to post AI content either knowingly or recklessly, and Pieri said this would help protect news organizations that unknowingly publish AI content.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill on the grounds that it could expose companies to civil lawsuits and is not limited to deceptive content. A chamber spokesperson said the group specifically objects to the consumer notification portion of the bill.
Another provision of the bill would prohibit defendants from arguing that child sexual abuse material created by artificial intelligence is not criminally illegal.
Public disclosure about the use of AI is an emerging theme across hundreds of state bills in the U.S. Congress that seek to regulate the new technology.
AI can help filter job and rental applications, in some cases make medical care decisions, and create images that gain large audiences on social media, but companies and creators have not disclosed the use of AI. There are few laws that require you to do so. As a result, Americans remain largely ignorant about technology, even as it permeates every corner of our lives.
Margaret Durkin, TechNet's executive director for Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region, said in a statement Wednesday that the organization is working with lawmakers to “reduce uncertainty about who and what will be affected.” He said he looked forward to cooperation on the definition.
TechNet is a trade group for senior executives working on behalf of technology companies like Meta and Google. Spokesman Steve Chidera said the group hopes to work with lawmakers to shift from opposition to neutrality.
“For example, in a soccer broadcast that uses AI to display predictive visual cues, how do we know when a consumer is interacting with the AI for the first time? Are there any obligations to provide disclosures when using generative AI products to help? And how do they do that? Durkin asked.
The Washington, D.C.-based BSA The Software Alliance, which advocates for the global software industry, announced that as of early February there were hundreds of software industries. AI-related bills are pending In front of about 40 state legislatures. Topics covered by the bill include bias, discrimination and the risks of deepfakes.
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This article has been edited to correct the TechNet official's name to Durkin instead of Durking.
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Associated Press writer Jesse Bedine in Denver contributed to this report.