Pennsylvania one of the first states to require disclosures on AI-generated ads

Pennsylvania is becoming one of the first states to require disclosures on artificial intelligence-generated advertisements. On Thursday, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the bill into law, which takes effect in 60 days. 

"If you see an advertisement on Facebook or the internet somewhere and it was generated by AI, they have to put a disclaimer at the bottom that says this was generated by AI," said state Sen. Nick Pisciottano, who sponsored the bill.

The rule applies to images, videos, audio, and text that have been substantially rewritten or generated by AI. It means, for instance, a TV or radio commercial created by AI would have to include a note acknowledging it was created by AI.  

"It's really to protect consumers," he said. 

AI-generated ads have become impossible to miss when scrolling on Facebook. They've become common as an advertising tool for restaurants, some of which use AI-generated images of food to advertise their offerings. 

"This technology is only going to get better and better, and eventually, it's going to get to the point where it's very difficult to differentiate between something that's real or fake," Pisciottano said. 

The law applies to anything shown in the state, even if it is made out of state, he said. 

"I think it's a good step forward," Pisciottano said. "AI is going to continue to evolve and permeate our society, and we need to make sure that the state is stepping in to make sure people protect it."

The dangers, he said, are real. 

"When we were working through this bill, we heard from some consumer groups that represent older folks who are just not as technologically literate who were getting scammed because of some of this fake AI advertising," Pisciottano said.

Enforcing the policy is up to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. There would be a fine and even potential jail time, he said. But punishment would only come for AI companies, not the individual users. It's on the companies to add the disclaimers as AI content is generated. 

"Pennsylvania moved fast on this," Pisciottano said. "There's only a couple other states that have these kind of requirements right now, but I think you're going to see either the federal government or a ton of states do something similar."

The rule does not impact political ads, Pisciottano said. KDKA reached out to one of the Republican co-sponsors and did not hear back.