Georgia's deep fake bill: A move to prevent AI-generated election interference

ATLANTA - A robocall mimicking President Joe Biden's voice urged voters not to cast their ballots in the New Hampshire Primary earlier this year.

On Thursday, the Georgia House passed a bill that would make it a felony to produce AI-generated content or, "Deep Fakes," to interfere with an election.

House Bill 986 targets those who would use artificial intelligence, or AI, to influence elections. State Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs, co-sponsored the legislation.

"It's already happened with the New Hampshire Primary with robocalls telling people not to vote. It's already happening right now," Thomas told reporters.

Someone who creates a fake robocall would face felony charges in Georgia.

What does HB 986 target?

The bill targets groups that would likely have the money to generate fake content that might be believable to the average voter.

"This bill doesn't affect every person," Rep. Thomas explained. "It's tightly prescribed to campaigns and committees, political action committees, that's the groups we are mainly going after."

If passed, anyone convicted of creating a fake AI generated video or audio recording, or still image of a real individual, could face up to 5 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Georgia’s ‘deep fake’ bill passes House

The bill passed by a wide margin but was met with opposition by lawmakers concerned the bill infringes on Georgian's First Amendment rights.

Those backing the bill insist they've addressed those concerns by limiting the number of people who could be affected by the legislation.

"In order to even be convicted of this, you must have specific knowledge that you are doing something wrong, specific knowledge you uploaded it, or you intended to affect an election or referendum," said Rep. Todd Jones.

The bill now goes to the Georgia Senate for consideration.