Google will require labeling of political advertising created by neural networks

GOOGLE will require advertisers to label political ads that were created using neural networks. The change in rules was preceded by a scandal involving fake photographs of Donald Trump in advertising for his competitor.

Starting in November, Google will begin requiring those who place political ads to inform users of the company's services if artificial intelligence was used to create them . The Hill reported this with reference to a statement from a company representative.

"Given the growing prevalence of tools that help generate digital content, we're taking our policy a step further by requiring advertisers to disclose when their election ads include content that has been digitally modified or created," a Google spokesperson said.

The changes will also affect content that has been altered in any way using neural networks, including if they helped generate images of real people. As an example of how such an advertising message might be labeled, The Hill cites phrases such as “This audio was computer generated” or “This image does not depict actual events.”

However, ads that include “minor changes not essential to the claims,” such as resizing images, color corrections or minor background changes, are exempt from disclosure requirements about the use of neural networks to process them.

The update will take effect in November, a year before the US elections , which will take place in the fall of 2024.

In August, the nonprofit Public Citizen filed a petition with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking for clarification on how the law , which is supposed to prevent “fraudulent misrepresentation,” would apply to misleading advertising campaigns generated by artificial intelligence. The FEC then voted to consider potentially clarifying rules regarding the use of artificial intelligence in election advertising.

Read PIONERPRODUKT .by A popular sweetener may be considered dangerous. Why the market doesn’t care “Fear, come with me!”: where phobias come from and how to overcome them “Demand is 4-5 times higher than supply.” What will happen to the IPO market in RUSSIA Is it worth buying real estate in Kazakhstan: prices , profitability, pitfalls

The appeal to the FEC was preceded by a scandal caused by the publication on social networks of a video containing an artificially intelligent image of former US President Donald Trump hugging Anthony Fauci, the former DIRECTOR of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The video, posted on the social network X (formerly Twitter) by the DeSantis War Room page, which The Hill associates with the campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, mocks Trump for not firing Dr. Fauci, who was criticized for his work during the fight against covid-19 pandemic .

DeSantis and Trump are the main rivals in the fight for first place in the US Republican Party primaries. Party colleagues criticized Desantis' headquarters because the video “blurs the line between reality and generated content,” FORBES wrote .

In Russia, the United Russia party decided to use artificial intelligence during the preparation of regional election campaigns, Deputy Secretary of the United Russia General Council Sergei Perminov told RBC in April. According to him, neural networks are used by the party to generate video materials and images, for forecasting and analytics, as well as “for creative ‘tips,’ including, for example, technological assault, which such systems cope with in a matter of seconds.”

During the campaign, the party planned to use both foreign neural networks, such as ChatGPT or Midjourney, and Russian-made systems - for example, the Sberbank Kandinsky neural network, United Russia said. According to him, United Russia already has agreements with Russian artificial intelligence developers on the use of their developments during the elections.

In September, elections for regional heads will be held in 20 constituent entities - in particular, voting will take place in Moscow, Yakutia, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Pskov and other regions. In 16 regions, deputies will be elected to the constituent parliaments. In addition, four State Duma deputies will be elected on a single voting day. Elections will be held for the first time in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions; their holding in 2023 was assumed by the laws on admission to Russia.