Who?
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Ask a Pol asked:
Is there going to be any legislative response to the Biden deepfake?
Key Hirono:
“We could all predict that this was going to happen,” Hirono tells Ask a Pol. “So I hope that that this would be a bipartisan effort to make sure that people are not lied to in this way. It’s really terrible.”
Doesn’t election make it harder to pass a deepfake bill?
“Since it’s already upon us, we should do something about it to prevent this kind of abuse,” Hirono said. “I should think there’s more of an imperative to do something about it.”
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LISTEN: Laslo & Hirono
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Mazie Hirono
Matt Laslo: “Hey, how are you, ma’am? I remember asking you last year about deepfakes in the 2024 election…”
Mazie Hirono: “About what?”
ML: “About deepfakes — using of AI, generative AI. Now we’re here in 2024. Did you catch the one with — imitating Biden?”
MH: “I didn’t hear it, but I heard it described, that that is what is happening.”
ML: “Any senatorial response? Any legislative response?”
MH: “There’s already a bill that was introduced that I’ve signed on to that would prevent the use of AI without disclosure in the political context, and I believe it’s being led by [Sen.] Amy Klobuchar. So she has a lot of election bills.”
ML: “But now we’re in the midst of the election…”
MH: “Yes, I know.”
ML: “…does kind of that suck the air out of this town and this building?”
MH: “What do you mean ‘suck the air out of it’?”
ML: “Are you going to able to get floor time for it?”
MH: “I don’t know, but I think that that’s something that I would bring up with Amy [Klobuchar] to see what we can do. Because we could all predict that this was going to happen.”
ML: “Yeah.”
MH: “So I hope that that this would be a bipartisan effort to make sure that people are not lied to in this way. It’s really terrible.”
ML: “Are there any more resources y’all can provide Homeland Security or something like that?”
MH: “There may be, I don’t know.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MH: “But, since it’s already upon us, we should do something about it to prevent this kind of abuse.”
ML: “But doesn’t it make it harder now that we’re in the middle of an election to get something on the floor?”
MH: “I should think there’s more of an imperative to do something about it.”
ML: “I’ll be watching. Preciate you.”
MH: “Yes. Thank you.”
Matt Laslo covers tech politics for WIRED, lectures on technology’s impact on government at Johns Hopkins and is the founder of Ask a Pol — a new people-powered press corps.
Ask a Pol — asking your lawmakers your questions at your US Capitol. @AskaPol_AI
Sen. Hirono says there's more of an imperative to act after Biden deepfake ad