ALLENDALE, Mich. — You've probably seen a deepfake before.
But you might not know.
Artificial intelligence (AI) software is now able to generate images requested by the user in matter of seconds or minutes. Some are cartoonish, and some are so realistic that you wouldn't know it's not real.
Dr. Denton Bobeldyk is a professor at GVSU School of Computing who specializes in artificial intelligence. He's seen both the positives and the negatives of the technology.
"You can make anyone that's not an artist, an artist," said Dr. Bobeldyk. "There's also some negative things that can happen. We saw what happened with Taylor Swift."
Pornographic deepfake images of Taylor Swift went viral in January, drawing attention to the lack of legislation protecting people from AI.
Dr. Bobeldyk said legislation may take time to put in place, as there's multiple angles it would need to take.
"You have the software company that's providing the AI software that can generate these images. You have the user that's using that software, that's making a decision to generate these explicit images," Dr. Bobeldyk said. "Then you have them making a decision to share these images, then you have the platform that's sharing the images, then you have the user that's viewing the images."
Lawmakers in Michigan have taken steps toward more AI regulation with legislation like House Bill 5141.
"Deep fakes are largely unregulated. Nationwide, there's a few states that have some regulations. Michigan is now one of the leading states in regulating AI, in relation to politics," Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou said.
This law requires political advertisers to notify viewers if deepfakes are used.
"We're asking that the disclosure not only say that it's AI generated, but also, if the material is misleading," Rep. Tsernoglou said.
So far, California, Minnesota, Texas and Washington are the only states that have passed similar laws.
That's why it's important to know how to identify deepfakes, especially ahead of the 2024 election.
"if we have something that you're sort of questioning that is this real, just sort of use your intuition," Dr. Bobeldyk said. "AI still has a hard time with hands. It's not so much the hands, but it's the number of fingers."
Rep. Tsernoglou says the next step she is working on is regulations for explicit deepfake images.
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