CFB testimony - Ryan on narrowing scope recommendations
Ryan raises concerns that Intro 12A's broad definition of synthetic content creation systems could require disclosure of nearly all political communications, including fundraising emails drafted with ChatGPT, and could bury meaningful information in a haystack of innocuous AI uses.
To even further strengthen Intro 12A, the Council should consider narrowing the law's application in several ways.
By shifting from a prohibition to a disclosure model and naming the CFB as the agency in receipt of these disclosures, as well as naming the CFB as the agency responsible for implementing the new disclosure regime,
Intro 12A incorporates by reference a definition of synthetic content creation systems in the state Stop Deepfakes Act.
The most recent version, E, of that legislation, which was passed by the Assembly on June 4th, defines the term to mean, quote, a class of generative artificial intelligence system capable of generating wholly synthetic content.
the Council eliminated the greatest vulnerabilities to First Amendment legal challenge and clarified administrative and enforcement responsibilities.
The CFB has a unique perspective on this topic rooted in our dual mandate to serve candidates and voters.
This is a very broad standard, encompassing not only ads that contain synthetic content, but also ads generated or modified using a system capable of generating synthetic content, even if such synthetic content was not incorporated into the ad.
We sympathize with the perspective of both.
We wholeheartedly share your concerns about the ways that AI technology could be used to spread false information to intentionally mislead or deceive voters about council members and other city candidates and officeholders.
At the Campaign Finance Board, we have placed a priority on learning about artificial intelligence.
The earlier version of the Stop Deepfakes Act that was passed by the state Senate on June 3rd exempted from this definition technologies such as red-eye filters and other technologies that are only capable of making changes to existing audio or visual content.
Ms.
Melillo and I recently completed the Harvard Kennedy School AI in Action certificate course.
We have formed an agency-wide AI working group, and we are learning more every day.
Nevertheless, AI technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that we cannot say with certainty how best to regulate its use in elections.
I will return to the significance of this legislative language in a moment.
To that end, we appreciate that the amended version of this legislation meaningfully addresses our most significant legal and implementation concerns shared at the hearing in December 2024.
Another aspect of Intro 12A's broad coverage is its application to, quote, any literature
advertisement, or other communication.
Combined with the Stop Deepfakes Act definition of synthetic content creation systems, Intro 12A would seemingly require a campaign that uses
By shifting from a prohibition to a disclosure model and naming the CFB as the agency in receipt of these disclosures, as well as naming the CFB as the agency responsible for implementing the new disclosure regime,
generative tech software like ChatGPT or Claude to draft or edit a fundraising email, for example, to report this communication to the CFB.
the Council eliminated the greatest vulnerabilities to First Amendment legal challenge and clarified administrative and enforcement responsibilities.
A third element of Intro 12A's breadth is that its candidate disclosure requirements are triggered when a candidate makes, publishes, or publicly distributes a covered communication.
The CFB has a unique perspective on this topic rooted in our dual mandate to serve candidates and voters.
We sympathize with the perspective of both.
We wholeheartedly share your concerns about the ways that AI technology could be used to spread false information to intentionally mislead or deceive voters about council members and other city candidates and officeholders.
This language would seemingly encompass instances where a candidate or campaign staff member reposts someone else's content on a social media platform like X,
At the Campaign Finance Board, we have placed a priority on learning about artificial intelligence.
Instagram, or TikTok without spending any money, and perhaps with no knowledge of whether the content was created or modified with a synthetic content creation system.
We have a unique perspective on this topic rooted in our dual mandate to serve candidates and voters.
We sympathize with the perspective of both.
We wholeheartedly share your concerns about the ways that AI technology could be used to spread false information to intentionally mislead or deceive voters about council members and other city candidates and officeholders.