Elon Musk may be in trouble under California's new AI laws!!
04:23 Share

Hello and welcome to another episode of ChatGPT. I'm your host, Adam Finney. And today we're going to be diving into a fascinating and another very timely topic as far as the election coming up. So the other episode I talked about California's new laws revolving around AI deepfakes. And there's another story revolving around this. With the 2024 presidential election approaching, this legislation could have significant implications on social media users and the way we engage with online content. So

What exactly is happening? So Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed Assembly Bill 2839, which immediately went into effect. This law makes it illegal for individuals to knowingly post or share AI deepfakes that could mislead voters about upcoming elections. It's a response to the growing concern over deceptive content online, particularly in the political arena, just like I was talking about the other day. So one eye-catching example that came out recently that sparked this law was a deepfake reposted by none other than Elon Musk online.

which falsely portrayed Vice President Kamala Harris as calling herself incompetent. Governor Newsom tweeted about this incident, emphasizing that it's no longer permissible to distribute materially deceptive election content.

So what makes this law unique? Well, unlike other regulations that might target the creation or the creators of such deep fakes or the platforms they appear on, AB 2839 focuses specifically on those who share this misleading content. So if someone posts an AI deep fake that resembles a candidate and knows it's false, they can face legal consequences. So really holding them responsible.

If you see an AID fake and believe it's deceptive, you can file for injunctive relief. This means a judge could order the poster to take it down or even impose monetary damages. This gives regular social media users a powerful tool to combat misinformation. I think this is really important because a lot of people are concerned about seeing

Seeing things online and not knowing if they're real or not So the fact that you're able to if you know something is fake there are repercussions to the person who posted it I think that definitely like brings at least a little bit of comfort to people that are very worried about that kind of thing so anyway, the law defines malice as knowingly spreading false content that could confuse voters according to Leora

Gershon's in I'm pronouncing that correctly from the California initiative for technology and democracy. This isn't just about punishing offenders It's about preventing the spread of misinformation in the first place So the goal is clear which is to deter people from sharing harmful content that could undermine our democratic process

The law specifically applies to candidates in California's state and local elections, as well as federal candidates appearing on the ballot. Importantly, if an AI deepfake includes a clear disclaimer that it's been digitally altered, it falls outside of the scope of AB 2839.

So what's kind of interesting is Elon Musk has already tested the waters by reposting the same deep fake of Kamala Harris after the law was signed, racking up millions of impressions. This move raises questions about how seriously this all will be enforced and whether high profile figures like Musk will actually face the repercussions that they're supposed to.

Governor Newsom, during a press conference, remarked that while parity remains protected, manipulating elections through deepfakes poses a real threat to democracy. It's a crucial distinction and underscores the law's intent to safeguard the electoral process. So as we look ahead to the upcoming election, it's clear that misinformation, especially in the form of AI-generated content, will be a hot topic. With this law, California is making a proactive stance aiming to keep voters informed and elections fair.

So basically, just to wrap up, AB 2839 could be a game changer in the fight against election related misinformation. Again, we just have to see what happens as far as another thing like Elon testing the waters, seeing how the punishment is actually received, if it's received, how seriously it's taken. These kind of things could definitely determine how these laws are treated in the future and if people will take them seriously. And I think I think they should be taken pretty seriously because, you know.

Altering the outcome of an election with misinformation is not very good. So by targeting those who knowingly spread defects, the law empowers individuals to set a precedent that could influence similar legislation nationwide. So yeah, there's a lot upcoming. We're going to see what happens with all this, but I think that's kind of all I have for today. So thank you guys so much for tuning in. I hope you have a great rest of your day.