US Senator pushes tech companies to label AI-generated content
The United States Democrat Senator Michael Bennet urged tech companies in a letter to label AI-generated content, along with monitoring any misleading content produced by AI.
On June 29, the letter was sent to executives of major tech companies involved with AI including the maker of ChatGPT - OpenAI, Microsoft Meta, Twitter and Alphabet. Bennet stressed that users should be aware when AI was used to make content.
Bennet said fake images have disruptive consequences for the economy and trust, especially when they are politically oriented.
"Continuing to produce and disseminate AI-generated content without clear, easily comprehensible identifiers poses an unacceptable risk to public discourse and electoral integrity."The senator also stressed that while some companies have begun to label some AI-generated content, the policies of the companies are "alarmingly reliant on voluntary compliance."
Bennet has asked executives of the companies targeted in the letter to give answers to concerns over standards in identifying AI-generated content and their implementation, along with repercussions for rule violations by July 31.
None of the companies have responded, except for Twitter which reportedly responded with a poop emoji.
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This same fear of non-labeled AI content leading to misinformation has been expressed by European lawmakers as well.
Earlier this month on June 5th, the European Commission Vice President, Vera Jourova, told the media that she believes companies deploying generative AI tools with the “potential to generate disinformation” should have labels on the content created to stop the spread of disinformation.
Although the U.S. does not currently have any comprehensive AI legislation in place, on June 8, U.S. lawmakers proposed two bipartisan bills which target transparency and innovation in the AI space.
One of the said bills proposed by Democratic Senator Gary Peters, and Republican Senators Mike Braun and James Lankford, would require transparency from the government regarding its AI usage.
The other from Bennet himself and fellow Democrat Mark Warner, along with Republican Senator Todd Young, would establish an official Office of Global Competition Analysis.
Bennet had also made comments back in March 2023 directed toward the instability of the crypto industry after the collapse of Signature Bank.
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