Michigan House clears ban on nonconsensual ‘deep fake’ pornography

Nearly every member of Michigan’s state House voted to approve bills Thursday to create criminal and civil penalties for creating or distributing fake sexual images or videos of real people using artificial intelligence to computer generate the materials.

The bill sponsors, Reps. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) and Matthew Bierlein (R-Vassar), implored lawmakers before the vote to recognize how sexual predators and extortionists are finding new ways to perpetuate violence as artificial intelligence technology advances.

“Unfortunately, bad actors are using these tools to create incredibly realistic fake images and videos, often involving explicit content without the consent or knowledge of the people portrayed,” Bierlein said. “These are not harmless pranks. They are deeply invasive violations that can destroy reputations, careers and mental health.’

Perpetrators can create hyper realistic “deepfake” pornographic materials that portray individuals the creators may have never met, stakeholders in sexual violence prevention told lawmakers in March as the bills were considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

Nonconsensual deepfake pornography is a relatively new problem facing the public, Tsernoglou said, noting that in the late 2010’s fake sexually sensitive images of female celebrities started being created. And since then, there have been instances where criminals have used artificial intelligence to humiliate, blackmail and abuse individuals, and at times drive them to suicide.

Michigan lawmakers consider bills to ban deepfake pornography

There’s a lot of debate about the merits and problems with artificial intelligence, Tsernoglou told lawmakers Thursday, but no one can deny that across industries, it has been used to analyze data quickly, automate tasks and supplement problem-solving for a human workforce, making it a powerful tool that isn’t going away any time soon.

“…artificial intelligence has only grown more and more powerful, and its impact on our society has only become more and more prevalent,” Tsernoglou said. “…we must stay hyper vigilant in our efforts to regulate the technology and to ensure that our most vulnerable community members are not exploited or harmed.”

The sole member of the House to vote against the legislation, Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers), has said in the past that he is supportive of elements of the package, but has concerns over individuals’ due process to be able to defend themselves if a case is brought against them. Carra proposed an amendment that would have allowed for defendants to argue that they had verbal consent from the individual portrayed in the sexual materials to create the materials, whereas the legislation excludes argument of verbal consent as an argument.

The legislation will now be up for consideration by the state Senate.