California is putting a digital leash on AI fakes.<\/p>\n
A landmark new state law taking effect this week will require artificial intelligence companies to add invisible \u201cdigital fingerprints\u201d to AI-generated images, videos and audio, giving users a way to determine whether the content they\u2019re seeing was made by a human \u2014 or a machine.<\/a><\/p>\n Written by Bay Area lawmakers, it will require AI companies to embed difficult-to-remove data known as \u201cprovenance\u201d into their creations, allowing people to check a file\u2019s origins<\/a> through content verification tools.<\/p>\n The goal is to make the internet a little less of a Wild West.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile AI has some benefits, we\u2019ve seen AI content used for election misinformation for scams and abusive deepfakes,\u201d state Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, recently told<\/a> KQED.<\/p>\n The concern comes as AI-generated political content <\/a>has already begun making waves in The Golden State.<\/p>\n As previously reported<\/a> by The Post, two California Democrats recently urged Congress to crack down on AI-generated campaign ads that could impersonate candidates or political organizations as the technology becomes increasingly sophisticated.<\/p>\n US Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) are pushing a new crackdown that would stop fake candidate impersonations from hijacking federal campaigns.<\/p>\n The push came after California political campaigns embraced AI-generated ads.<\/a><\/p>\n This included Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton\u2019s videos attacking Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic nominee Xavier Becerra \u2014 as well as former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt\u2019s viral \u201cPratt Man\u201d campaign video<\/a>, which racked up millions of views with a Hollywood-style AI parody.<\/p>\n Schiff warned that AI-fueled political deception crosses party lines.<\/a><\/p>\n California is making AI fakes show their papers, requiring computer-generated images, videos and audio to carry digital fingerprints that expose their origins. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cAI-generated fraudulent advertising which uses the likeness or voices of candidates to misrepresent their positions, campaigns, or causes, or otherwise misrepresents a candidate\u2019s point of view is not only wrong \u2014 it poses a serious threat to our democracy that should concern all Americans regardless of their party,\u201d Schiff said.<\/p>\n While some fakes aim to fool the public, these West Coast campaign clips wore their digital DNA on their sleeves, utilizing Tinseltown-style animation and satire.<\/a><\/p>\n Still, as machine-made political content floods the internet, the line between fact and fiction is getting harder for voters to see.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Becker teamed up with Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Los Angeles, on the law, aiming to give everyday internet users a fighting chance in a world where AI fakes can look eerily real.<\/p>\n Starting this Sunday, Aug. 9, users will be able to upload an image, video or audio file into a content verifier \u2014 such as one created by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity \u2014 to check whether it was created by AI.<\/p>\n Becker and his fellow lawmakers are giving internet sleuths a new weapon: starting Aug. 8, users can run suspicious photos, videos and audio through verification tools to expose whether AI had a hand in creating them. Getty Images<\/p>\n The law\u2019s rollout won\u2019t stop there. Come Jan. 1, 2027, Big Tech will have to give users a way to unmask AI-made content<\/a> hiding in plain sight.<\/p>\n By 2028, phones and cameras manufactured in California will also be required to store provenance information at the moment an image is captured, essentially giving every photo its own digital birth certificate.<\/p>\n The law may have passed in 2024, but getting it off the runway took nearly three years as lawmakers tried to catch up with AI\u2019s breakneck evolution.<\/p>\n California lawmakers also worked closely with officials in the European Union while developing the rules, with the law taking effect the same day as the EU\u2019s new AI Act.<\/p>\n While the first phase of the law primarily targets AI companies, experts say the biggest impact could come when the rules reach social media platforms.<\/p>\n By 2027, Big Tech will have to give users a way to expose AI-generated content hiding in their feeds \u2014 and by 2028, every photo snapped on California-made devices will carry a digital paper trail from the moment it\u2019s born. Getty Images<\/p>\n Stephen Sharp Queener, an academic researcher with Starling Lab, warned that the platform requirements could reshape how people consume information online.<\/p>\n If enforced, the rules \u201cwill no doubt have a larger effect on our information economy,\u201d Queener wrote in a recent Substack post<\/a>.<\/p>\n As AI-generated content floods the internet, California is betting that the best defense against digital deception is transparency \u2014 putting a tiny digital trail behind every synthetic creation.<\/p>\n Because in the age of AI, seeing isn\u2019t always believing.<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t
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