A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House on Thursday aimed at addressing concerns about the potential misuse of artificial intelligence technology, specifically deepfakes. These deepfakes, which can be created using AI to mimic voices, faces, and actions of real people, have raised fears of misinformation, exploitation, and scams. The proposed legislation would require AI developers to identify content created using their products with digital watermarks or metadata, similar to photo metadata, and online platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook would be required to label the content to notify users.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat from California's Silicon Valley, co-sponsored the bill with Republican Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida, emphasizing the need for transparency and protection against deepfakes. The bill would complement voluntary commitments by tech companies and an executive order signed by President Joe Biden last fall, which directed federal agencies to set guidelines for AI products.

While the bill has received support from organizations advocating for greater safeguards on AI and some AI developers, it still needs to be considered by lawmakers and may not be passed in time for the 2024 election. However, supporters believe that requiring the identification of deepfakes is a necessary safeguard to protect consumers, children, and national security. Margaret Mitchell, chief AI ethics scientist at Hugging Face, expressed support for the bill's focus on embedding identifiers in AI content, stating that it will help the public gain control over the role of generated content in society.

Overall, the proposed legislation represents progress in addressing the risks posed by AI technology, with bipartisan support for regulation that balances protection with continued innovation in industries like healthcare and education.