Torres to introduce bill requiring disclosure of AI content

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) is planning to introduce a bill this coming week that would require any content produced by generative artificial intelligence (AI) to include a disclaimer noting the content’s source. 

The bill, entitled the “AI Disclosure Act of 2023,” would require any output from AI to include the sentence “Disclaimer: this output has been generated by artificial intelligence.” The legislation would task the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with enforcement. 

Torres said in a statement that AI is the “most revolutionary” technology of the present day but can also be used as a “weapon of disinformation, dislocation, and destruction.” He said one of Congress’ main challenges in the upcoming years will be carefully crafting a framework to regulate the technology and manage its risks. 

“The simplest place to start is disclosure. All generative AI—whether the content it generates is text or images, video or audio—should be required to disclose itself as AI,” Torres said. “Disclosure is by no means a magic bullet but it’s a common-sense starting point to what will surely be a long road to regulation.” 

Axios first reported on the legislation. 

The legislative effort from Torres comes as technology experts and lawmakers are increasingly expressing concerns about a lack of regulation on AI technology. 

Platforms like ChatGPT have received national attention for their abilities to rapidly answer a wide range of questions from users and generate content, but some have urged caution in continuing to develop the technology. 

AI experts and industry leaders signed an open letter earlier this week warning that addressing the risks from AI should have the same priority as avoiding pandemics and nuclear war. 

Elon Musk and other technology experts called for a pause on AI research in March until society can be sure that the benefits outweigh the risks and that the risks are manageable. They said AI is becoming competitive with humans at basic tasks and could be able to “flood our information channels with propaganda and untruths” and replace manual jobs with automated ones. 

A spokesperson for Torres’ office told The Hill that they are hoping the bill’s “nuts and bolts will end up as a starting point” and become part of a larger package. They said they would defer to the FTC for how to best enforce the bill if it becomes law.