It’s back to the Statehouse for lawmakers on Monday, and taking on the dangers of AI and deep fakes are a priority for some lawmakers.
INDIANAPOLIS — The new year is here and that means it’s back to the Indiana Statehouse for state lawmakers who are set to start working on proposed legislation next Monday.
Lawmakers have been filing bills for the past several weeks.
At least two bills deal with artificial intelligence and pornographic images.
The lawmakers filing them have personal experiences when it comes to the issue.
Rep. Craig Haggard (R-District 57) and Rep. Maureen Bauer (D-District 6) are on opposite side of the political aisle, but this session you’ll find them aligned on one topic — artificial intelligence and deep fake porn.
Both have authored bills dealing with the topic and have signed on to each other’s proposed legislation.
“There’s a lot of good with AI, but there is bad,” said Haggard.
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The Republican lawmaker would know. This past fall, his wife was possibly the victim of a deep fake AI video that allegedly showed her topless.
“I still don’t publicly put blame on any one person or entity because I think that’s unfair. Somebody drug my wife into this, whether it was real or not real, and that part still upsets me,” said Haggard, whose proposed bill makes the penalties for creating and distributing AI porn in Indiana similar to the penalties at the federal level, up to three years in prison and fines.
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“We’ve seen not only in the U.S., but we’ve seen overseas, individuals that they’ve used this stuff to blackmail, where people have taken their lives as adults or young kids,” Haggard added.
Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly publish non-consensual intimate imagery — including deep-fakes created with AI — without consent.
Something Bauer experienced this past September when someone altered a photo of the South Bend lawmaker without her consent and tried use it to harass and intimidate her.
State police and the FBI launched an investigation.
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This session, Bauer has authored House Bill 1182. It establishes a new offense in Indiana law to address the creation, possession, and distribution of AI-generated digital sexual images, created without a person’s consent.
Bauer said current statutes do not adequately address what she called a “growing form of abuse.”
According to Bauer, the bill creates what she said is “clear accountability” at the point of creation, not just when images are distributed.
“This issue is one I now know can happen to anyone at anytime, ” said Bauer. “As artificial intelligence advances faster than our laws, people are having their likeness exploited in ways that violate their privacy, safety, and dignity.”
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“This bill is about consent and accountability,” Bauer said. “No one should have their body or identity weaponized by technology. Indiana law must keep pace with emerging threats, and HB 1182 is a necessary step to protect Hoosiers from this form of digital exploitation.”
Bottom line, said Haggard: both bills raise awareness that AI porn is a problem.
“We’re behind on regulating this kind of stuff,” said Haggard. “I want people to realize this is a big deal.”
