‘Fraud is fraud’: Georgia aims to ban AI deepfakes in political campaigns

When wrangling legislation, sometimes it’s best to sound out a problem in front of you.

In Georgia, it sounds like state senator Colton Moore. But it only sounds like Colton Moore.

Representative Todd Jones, a Republican who chairs the Georgia house committee on technology and infrastructure innovation, has proposed legislation outlawing the use of artificial intelligence deepfakes in political communication. To illustrate the point, Jones presented a deepfake video to the judiciary committeeusing an AI image and audio of Moore and Mallory Staples, a former Republican congressional candidate who now runs a far-right activist organization, the Georgia Freedom Caucus.

The video uses an AI tool to impersonate the voices of Moore and Mallory falsely endorsing passage of the bill. The video contains a continuous disclaimer at the bottom citing the text of the bill.

Moore and Mallory oppose the legislation.

The AI impersonation of Moore says: “I would ask the committee: how is using my biometric data, like my voice and likeness, to create media supporting a policy that I clearly don’t agree with the first amendment right of another person?”

The video continues: “The overwhelming number of Georgians believe the use of my personal characteristics against my will is fraud, but our laws don’t currently reflect that. If AI can be used to make Colton Moore speak in favor of a popular piece of legislation, it can be used to make any one of you say things you’ve never said.”

Representative Brad Thomas, the Republican co-sponsor of the bill and co-author of the video, said he and his colleagues used commonly available tools to create the video.

“The particular one we used is, like, $50. With a $1,000 version, your own mother wouldn’t be able