The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a new regulation that would require the disclosure of artificial intelligence (AI) use in political advertisements, a move that has drawn criticism from one commissioner who calls it "regulatory overreach."
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is facing scrutiny after proposing a new regulation that would mandate the disclosure of artificial intelligence (AI) use in political advertisements. The proposal, put forward by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democratic appointee, has drawn criticism from Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Republican appointee, who sees it as regulatory overreach ahead of the election.
The proposed rulemaking process would require the inclusion of a disclosure about the use of AI in candidate and issue advertisements. However, it would not prohibit the use of AI-generated content in political ads. Instead, the regulation would mandate that TV and radio operators include the disclosure in ads aired by campaigns and advocacy groups.
Commissioner Carr raised concerns about the proposal, suggesting that it comes in the wake of reports indicating Democrats' worries over Republicans' potential edge in AI use. "It's important to think about the context in which this comes up," Carr said. "Over the last few weeks and months, there's been a lot of reporting that attributes perspectives either to the DNC or the Biden campaign itself expressing concern and nervousness that Democrats are falling behind Republicans and the Trump campaign, in particular, when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence in political ads in the run up to this fall's election."
Carr further criticized the proposal, stating, "Against the backdrop of increased reporting on Democrats' concerns that they're falling behind Republicans, I think it's interesting that the FCC – sort of out of left field – steps in with a proposal that would fundamentally alter the regulatory playing field with respect to AI and political ads, and doing so in what would effectively amount to the eve of nationwide elections."
Carr also questioned the FCC's authority to require such disclosure on political ads aired on platforms other than TV and radio, suggesting that it could lead to uneven enforcement for ads appearing on streaming services or social media platforms, potentially confusing consumers.
"We don't have a broad-based jurisdiction across all technologies on which political ads would be running," Carr said. "The FCC's assertion is that we could do this for broadcast radio and broadcast TV. But then you have a scenario in which an ad is running on broadcast TV, then someone sees it on a streaming service or a social media platform – you see it one time, and it's got this disclosure that it's made with AI, in the other context, you don't see that."
"Consumers don't think about things they're watching through FCC definitional and technical silos, they're just watching content on screens," he added.
Carr also questioned the effectiveness of the disclosure in helping consumers understand AI's use in an ad and evaluate its credibility. "How useful is that to consumers? Like, am I seeing something that's completely fake? Is it just that ChatGPT was used to assist in one sentence in the actual script that was used?" he pondered.
Carr suggested that the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) would be a more appropriate agency to handle such disclosure obligations due to its authority granted by Congress. He emphasized the need for the FCC to avoid "upending the apple cart when it comes to political speech right on the eve of a contested national election."
Despite these concerns, an FCC spokesperson stated, "This is the first election cycle with the widespread use of AI generative technology. As with any potential rulemaking, we welcome a range of perspectives on the impact of AI on our democratic elections."
In announcing the proposed rule, Chairwoman Rosenworcel emphasized, "As artificial intelligence tools become more accessible, the Commission wants to make sure consumers are fully informed when the technology is used. Today, I've shared with my colleagues a proposal that makes clear consumers have a right to know when AI tools are being used in the political ads they see, and I hope they swiftly act on this issue."
The FCC, with a 3-2 majority of Democratic commissioners, is currently evaluating the proposal. If a majority of the commissioners vote to adopt it, a public comment period would be launched on the proposed rules before the regulation could be finalized.
