[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 31, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S5654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Artificial Intelligence

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in a few minutes, Senator Klobuchar, 
chair of the Rules Committee, will ask for a unanimous consent request 
on two bills: the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act and the AI 
Transparency in Elections Act.
  I want to thank Senator Klobuchar for her leadership on these bills 
and for her committee's bipartisan work to protect our elections from 
the potential harms of AI. Both of these bills, the Protect Elections 
from Deceptive AI Act and the AI Transparency in Elections Act, have 
bipartisan support, so the Senate should support them and pass them 
without delay.
  Madam President, we are less than 100 days out from the first 
national elections ever held in the age of AI. We all know AI has many 
incredible benefits, but alongside those benefits come great risks; and 
the risks of AI for our elections could be severe. If we are not 
careful, if we fail to install proper guardrails, AI could jaundice and 
even totally discredit our entire election system as we know it.
  Misinformation is already a serious problem in our elections, but AI 
makes it easier than ever to generate and spread it. It is easier than 
ever to create deepfakes of candidates. AI already has been used in 
robocalls to impersonate President Biden for the purposes of misleading 
voters during the primary. Once that information is out, it is hard--
often impossible--to put the genie back in the bottle. Well, we have a 
chance today to pass precisely the kind of guardrails that would 
protect our elections from the risks of AI.
  We have a chance today to make sure that our democracy is not 
atrophied or harmed, discredited, because of these kinds of misleading 
ads. These bipartisan bills would ban the use of materially misleading 
AI-generated deepfakes that depict Federal candidates and require 
disclaimers any time political ads use AI in a substantial way.
  Most Americans, I think, would overwhelmingly agree that these are 
reasonable guardrails and they give voters peace of mind that AI isn't 
being used against them during election season without their knowledge. 
These bills have broad support. Democrats support these bills. 
Republicans support these bills. Over 40 current and former election 
officials and national security experts support these bills. Everyone 
recognizes the need to get something done. We are in a new world with 
AI. It can do a lot of good things, but it can cause some harms; and 
our job is to maximize the benefits but decrease the harms. One of the 
harms could be these deepfakes in elections, and we must do something 
about it.
  A few months ago, I worked with the Senate's bipartisan AI working 
group, which I created a year ago with Senators Heinrich and Young and 
Rounds to publish the first ever roadmap for AI policy. Our roadmap 
detailed a swath of proposals the Senate should consider to fortify our 
democracy in the age of AI. I am very glad to see that some of the good 
ideas we called for in our AI policy roadmap are reflected in these two 
bills.
  So I, again, greatly thank Senator Klobuchar for championing these 
bills, for coming to our AI forums and hearing what had to be said and 
then beginning to take action to make sure the abuses don't occur.
  I look forward to working further with Senator Klobuchar, the Rules 
Committee, other chairs in committees to regulate AI before it is too 
late.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.