ALBANY, NY (Erie News Now)--GOV. KATHY HOCHUL RECENTLY SIGNED A BILL INTO LAW TO CLARIFY STATE REGULATIONS ON AI USAGE IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS.  

THE FIRST REGULATION FOR GENERATIVE AI USAGE IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATIONS WAS SET INTO PLACE WHEN THE STATE BUDGET WAS PASSED AND SIGNED BACK IN APRIL.  
 
BUT SOON AFTER STATE LAWMAKERS REALIZED THERE WERE LIABILITY CHALLENGES FOR PUBLISHERS AND BROADCASTERS.  
 
BEFORE THE END OF SESSION, THEY PASSED A SECOND bill INTENDING TO TWEAK THE REGULATION BY REMOVING THE REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLISHERS AND BROADCASTERS RUNNING A POLITICAL AD TO ALSO DISPLAY THE AI USAGE DISCLAIMER.  
 
AND ON FRIDAY, THE GOVERNOR SIGNED THIS BILL INTO LAW.  
 
“As long as they say, ‘hey this might be produced with AI’ or they require the campaigns themselves to disclose it no one is going to hold the news liable for reporting on these controversies,” said Assembly Member Alex Bores (D-Assembly District 73).
 
BORES SAid AT A TIME WHEN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS ARE RAMPING UP AHEAD OF THE ELECTION, IT’S IMPORTANT VOTERS ARE MADE AWARE OF AI USAGE.  
 
HE SAid WHILE NEW YORKERS ARE USED TO FAKE SPAM EMAILS OR TEXTS, AI IS A DIFFERENT STORY.  
 
 
“Voters are not used to seeing fake video or fake sound and inherently we trust things we see with our own eyes or hear with our own ears, so it was imperative that New York state take action this year to clean up the threat that AI presents through these deepfakes,” said Bores. 
 
BORES SAid THIS NEW STATE REGULATION COULD SET A TREND NATIONWIDE – AND MIGHT EVEN INFLUENCE FEDERAL ACTION.  
 
“We’re working with the New York delegation for how this can be addressed federally as well but we certainly weren’t going to wait for the federal government to act. We needed to protect New Yorkers as soon as we could,” he said.