Skip to Content

AI Policy & Governance, Elections & Democracy

CDT Submits Comments to FEC on AI in Election Communications

/ Samir Jain, Guest Post

These comments are also authored by Dean W. Jackson

CDT submitted comments today supporting Public Citizen’s petition that calls for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to open a rulemaking process to consider how it might limit fraudulent misrepresentations in election communications through the use of AI-generated media. 

As we explained, the use of AI to produce synthetic video, images, or audio that has been digitally manipulated to misrepresent the voice and likeness of another person, or “deepfakes,” is a growing reality in election campaigns. Although the FEC cannot alone solve all the issues raised by the use of deepfakes in election campaigns, it can take a meaningful step forward by adopting rules that limit the ability of candidates to use deepfakes to engage in fraudulent misrepresentations by putting words in the mouths of their opponents.

The full comments are available here.

Related Reading

Graphic for CDT's podcast, entitled "CDT's Tech Talks." Hosted by Jamal Magby, and available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. Dark grey text and app logos, as well as light blue text, on a white background.

Tech Talk: Talking Tech with Umang Bhatt on Algorithmic Resignation
Graphic for CDT AI Gov Lab's report, "Assessing AI: Surveying the Spectrum of Approaches to Understanding and Auditing AI Systems." Illustration of a collection of AI "tools" and "toolbox" – a hammer and red toolbox – and a stack of checklists with a pencil.

Assessing AI: Surveying the Spectrum of Approaches to Understanding and Auditing AI Systems
The CDT logo. A white "cdt" alongside "Center for Democracy & Technology" on a black background.

Hypothesis Testing for AI Audits