US Senators Introduce No Fakes Bill to Prohibit AI Replicas

2023-10-26, 16:39

TL; DR

The United States senators have introduced a bill entitled Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2023 to protect individuals against unauthorized digital replicas.

The No Fakes Act will empower the affected individuals to take a legal course against the perpetrator.

Deepfakes are images or videos that feature people whose faces, voices or body have been altered to look like someone else or say something else.

Introduction

Artificial intelligence, one of the most transformative technological developments of the decade, has brought benefits and threats alike. If artificial intelligence (AI) is used properly it enhances productivity and transparency, among other values. Nonetheless, if misused it may lead to disastrous consequences in our social, political and economic lives.

In order to avert any potential dangers which AI imposes, several United States senators have proposed a bill to regulate the use of artificial intelligence technology in producing unauthorized AI copycats.

This article will discuss the purpose and objectives of the No Fake Bill in the United States. It will also cover the benefits and dangers of AI replicas.

Provisions of the No Fake Bill

The US senators, Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Thom Tillis and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) are sponsoring the No Fakes Act, also called The Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2023, which prohibits the unauthorized use of other people’s names, faces or voices to produce digital replicas.

If the No Fakes Bill is approved any organization or individual that uses unauthorized names, voices or faces to produce digital replicas will be liable for prosecution. The aggrieved parties can also sue platforms that host such unauthorized replicas.

Even if the person uses the voices, names and faces of dead people he/she will still face legal action if he/she has no authorization to do so. That means if an individual wants to use the image or voice of dead people he/she has to seek approval from relevant parties such as authorized relatives. The minimum penalty for violating the law will be $5,000 per violation.

It is important to note that the No Fakes Act will be a federal law. Ted Kalo of the Human Artistry campaign explained further. He said, “This will be a federal law that creates a uniform across the board. And this is not a label’s right. This is not a publisher’s right. This is an artist’s right that belongs to an artist that they can assert.”

The rights enshrined in the No Fakes Bill will apply to any living person and for 70 years after their death. This bill has come at a time when there are many AI-generated songs that emulate the voices of artists with many of them hosted on YouTube. That is why Senator Blackburn said that the bill is a “good first step” to protect songwriters, actors and U.S. creatives who “deserve the right to own their name, image, and likeness (NIL).”

The Purpose of the No Fakes Act

The overall aim of the No Fakes Bill is to prevent the production of digital replicas “without consent of the applicable individuals or rights holders.” People use artificial intelligence (AI) to generate AI replicas. The act will create the regulatory framework for the affected individuals to seek legal recourse.

According to the bill any person whose voice or image has been illegally replicated can sue the creator and the platform that hosts and distributes the unauthorized artificial intelligence powered recreation. This means that content development platforms like Tik Tok, YouTube and Spotify are liable for prosecution if they host unauthorized AI-generated content.

The main purpose of the act will be to “prevent a person from producing or distributing an unauthorized AI-generated replica of an individual to perform in an audio-visual or sound recording without the consent of the individual being replicated.”

The Major Problem of AI Generated Content

Artists like musicians are the ones that are mostly affected by AI replicas. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, said, “The explosion in popularity and capability of generative artificial intelligence has flooded the internet with AI-created songs, videos and voice recordings which exploit the likenesses of our members without consent or compensation.”

As you note, the talented creative community is prejudiced of the potential income they should earn if other people replicate their performances. Apart from this, some people may create AI replicas to use them with bad intentions.

For example, some fraudsters can create AI-generated deepfakes to steal from organizations such as banks. The fraudsters can use the mimicked voices to communicate with financial institutions.

Some individuals or organizations may use deep fakes to spread false information which may harm the integrity of other people. Also, they may create pornographic material using the altered images of popular personalities.

Further to this, they can use similar content to threaten, undermine and demean other people. Sadly, in some instances bad actors can create fake ads which they may use to defraud unsuspecting citizens.

Parties that Support the No Fakes Act

Many organizations and individuals support the No Fake bill. First off, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) supports the bill since it protects artists. According to the RIAA, AI-art will suffer greatly if the sector remains unregulated. This is because the generative AI models often infringe the rights of artists.

The Human Artistry campaign and SAG-AFTRA call for a strong protection of the rights of performers. It said, “A performer’s voice and their appearance are all part of their unique essence, and it’s not ok when those are used without their permission. Consent is key.”

In addition the entire creative community comprising authors, journalists, photographers, songwriters, performers supports the establishment of a legal framework that protects their rights.

Maintaining a Balance between Freedom of Speech, Artistic Expression and Misuse of AI Replicas

The No Fakes Bill does not ban unauthorized AI copycats indiscriminately. There are some exceptions. For example, it allows AI-generated content for news, documentaries as well as for historical or biographical works. It also allows for AI replicas created for satire, criticism and parody.

Therefore AI-generated content that does not harm, demeanour other people or prejudice them of financial gains may be legally accepted. Thus, the bill has a leeway to promote creativity and innovation.

In this regard, Senator Coons said, “Congress must strike the right balance to defend individual rights, abide by the First Amendment, and foster AI innovation and creativity.”

Other Uses of AI Replicas

AI-replicas have many functions in the United States communities. For example, deepfakes, which are images or videos that feature people whose faces, voices or body have been altered to look like someone else or say something else, may be used for making business presentations.

People can put fake words in the mouths of prominent people as a means of teaching society something important. As an instance, the content creators can fake a situation where the president of the United States, Joe Bidden, is conscientizing the citizens about the dangers of drug abuse.

Conclusion

The United States senator has introduced a bill, Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2023, to protect individuals from unauthorized digital replicas which may demean, intimidate or undermine them. If approved it allows affected individuals to take legal recourse against the deepfakes creators and the hosting platforms like YouTube.

Author: Mashell C., Gate.io Researcher

*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.

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