In abstract
At its fiftieth anniversary occasion, the state’s marketing campaign finance watchdog seems to the long run with a dialogue on synthetic intelligence. Legal professional Basic Rob Bonta warns AI firms about state legal guidelines in opposition to voter deception.
Will synthetic intelligence be the doom of political integrity? Or will it assist promote election legislation compliance in California?
Will depend on who you ask, based on a panel of tech and marketing campaign finance specialists who spoke at present on the state Honest Political Practices Fee’s fiftieth anniversary occasion in Sacramento.
The impartial nonpartisan fee — California’s marketing campaign finance watchdog company — was created by the Political Reform Act in 1974 to make sure transparency in state and native politics after the Watergate scandal. The company of about 100 staff regulates lobbying, battle of curiosity, marketing campaign finance and ethics violations.
The occasion featured former and present commissioners, marketing campaign finance attorneys and state legislators, together with former fee Chairperson Ann Ravel, Political Reform Act co-author Bob Stern and state Sen. Steve Glazeran Orinda Democrat. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown each appeared on the display in pre-recorded footage.
Panelists reviewed the origin of the Political Reform Act, established by a voter-approved poll measure and endorsed by Brown. Additionally they combed by means of challenges going through the fee, with some recounting funding restraints and enforcement backlogs.
One of many panels — moderated by fee Chairperson Adam Silver — mentioned the position of AI in elections. Whereas the proliferation of deep fakes issues him, the expertise might assist bolster the company’s enforcement efforts on marketing campaign finance violations and educate officers on compliance, Silver stated.
Scott Morris, a senior strategic consumer government at Microsoft, deemed the expertise “the steam engine of the fourth industrial revolution.”
Meeting Elections Committee Chairperson Gail Pellerina Santa Cruz Democrat and former native elections official for practically three many years, stated AI might additionally assist reply voter questions, monitor cybersecurity threats, optimize voting areas and even redraw districts.
However Drew Liebert, initiative director on the nonprofit California Initiative for Know-how and Democracy, warned of the abuse of AI in elections.
“We have to be very careful as we study these enormous learning machines out there scooping up … all of the information on the internet,” he stated. “I think we have to approach AI with a great deal of caution.”
In the meantime, Legal professional Basic Rob Bonta despatched a letter at present to prime social media and AI firms, reminding executives at Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, X and others that California legal guidelines ban sure forms of “voter intimidation, deception, and dissuasion,” and that the legal guidelines could apply to info on social media websites and AI-generated content material.
Bonta additionally stated firms have both “eased or eliminated” their content-moderation insurance policies, regardless of a “dramatic increase” of misinformation on social media in the course of the 2020 common election.
