Florida to Impose Restrictions on AI Use in Political Ads

TALLAHASSEE, FL—Artificial Intelligence use in political advertisements faces new regulations with a Florida bill requiring disclaimers of AI use in ads. Violators would be subject to civil penalties imposed by the Federal Elections Commission or an administrative law judge.

"The increasing access of sophisticated AI generated content threatens the integrity of elections by facilitating the dissemination of misleading or completely fabricated information that appears more realistic than ever," The bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Alex Rizo, said in the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee Monday morning. "The technology that produces this content has advanced rapidly and outpaced government regulation,"

Rep. Rizo explained that his bill requires disclaimers for two instances: when AI is used in any political advertisements, and when  it depicts a real person performing an action that did not actually occur. The bill applies to generated images, text, video, or audio, imposing civil penalty fines of up to $2500 per count for the first 3 offenses, and up to $7500 for each subsequent offense.

AI is no stranger to political candidates, employed by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez one month before he suspended his presidential campaign. The Mayor attempted to distinguish himself from other Republican candidates with an AI chatbot. The chatbot would listen to users' questions, and answer them with an AI generated video avatar of Suarez.

The Senate version of the bill, proposed by Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie, differs slightly from Rizo's version. The Senate bill goes a step further than the House's imposed fines for excluding disclaimers, mandating instead a first-degree misdemeanor.

Rep. Rizo's bill passed Committee unanimously, and will head to its final Committee stop, the State Affairs Committee. DiCeglie's Senate version also faces one final Committee stop, in the form of the Rules Committee.