A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has passed the Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfake Media Act (COPIED), in a historic move to counter the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered deepfakes.
Led by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), this bill aims to create consistent approaches to watermarking AI-generated material, thereby vigorously defending digital authenticity.
Deepfake: A Digital Age Push for Transparency
By requiring artificial intelligence service providers, including giants like OpenAI, to include machine-readable origin information in the material they produce, the COPIED Act will transform cryptocurrencies and the digital realm.
The move, Cantwell said, is essential for “much-needed transparency” and ensures creators retain ownership of their work, even as artificial intelligence dominates the industry.
Like many others, Blackburn has stressed the urgent need to protect the public from the dangers posed deepfakes.
“Artificial intelligence has given malicious actors the power to create deepfakes of any individual, even those from the creative community, to copy their image without their knowledge and profit from counterfeit content.” Blackburn said. The proposed legislation is intended to discourage this immoral behavior by making it more difficult to exploit such material without detection.
FTC to Implement Strict Guidelines
The enforcement mechanism of the COPIED law is fundamental and puts the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in charge. As with all violations of the FTC Act, the FTC will be in charge of enforcing compliance and treating violations as unfair or deceptive activities.
The introduction of these regulations comes at a time when there is increasing debate about the moral implications of artificial intelligence.
A clear indication of how concerned people are about the technology’s ability to collect vast amounts of data from the internet is the fact that Microsoft has stepped down from OpenAI’s board of directors.
Industry response and vision for the future
While the digital and creative sectors have differing opinions on the COPIED Act, many stakeholders agree that such rules are necessary.
Michael Marcotte, founder of the National Cybersecurity Center (NCC), emphasizes the importance of thorough preventive measures and strongly criticizes internet companies such as Google for not doing enough to stop deepfake fraud.
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