Pennsylvania to require labels on AI-generated ads

On Thursday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act into law, mandating disclosures when ads rely on AI.

The statute covers any ad — a still image, video, audio or text — that "has been significantly modified or generated by artificial intelligence." Such material must carry a label in the same format as the ad itself. That sweeps in everything from TV commercials by multi-billion-dollar companies to the ugly, cluttered flyers restaurants put out touting their wing specials.

Pennsylvania is among the first states to demand disclosures on AI-generated content. The requirement applies regardless of where an ad was produced, so viewers in other states may notice such labels in commercials that are also meant to air in Pennsylvania.

Room for interpretation

The law nonetheless leaves many loopholes. For one, what counts as "significantly modified" is subjective. There is also a carve-out for "parody, satire, commentary or criticism," and for anything "evidently fictional" — though what qualifies as evidently fictional is unclear.

The wording further suggests that a disclosure is required only for content that "uses synthetic content in a manner that creates a false consumer perception" about a product or service. That again raises questions about what counts as "false" under the law, and who gets to decide.

The office of State Senator Nick Pisciottano, who introduced the bill, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: The Verge