Transcript: US House Hearing on “Advances in Deepfake Technology”

Gabby Miller is Staff Writer for Tech Policy Press. Witnesses testify on Capitol Hill at a hearing on “Advances in Deepfake Technology,” November 8, 2023. On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation held a hearing on the risks and challenges posed by “Advances in Deepfake Technology.”  The session was chaired by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who opened the discussion emphasizing the dual nature of AI as both a tool for innovation and a potential weapon for harm, highlighting its use in creating highly realistic, synthetic images and video. Rep. Mace pointed out the distribution of AI-generated pornographic images and the exploitation of children, citing a letter from the attorneys general of 54 states and territories urging action against AI’s use in generating child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Witnesses included: Dr. David Doermann, Interim Chair, Computer Science and Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo (written statement) Sam Gregory, Executive Director, WITNESS (written statement) Mounir Ibrahim, Vice President of Public Affairs and Impact, Truepic (written statement) Spencer Overton, Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law (written statement) Witnesses testified about the dangers deepfakes pose, especially their role in non-consensual pornography, cyberbullying, and misinformation. There was a consensus on the urgent need for both public awareness and legislative action to combat the misuse of deepfake technology, with suggestions for incorporating digital literacy into education and developing technologies to detect and mark AI-generated content. Professor Overton focused on how women, people…Transcript: US House Hearing on “Advances in Deepfake Technology”