Legislature(2023 - 2024)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)

04/04/2024 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

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Audio Topic
03:33:53 PM Start
03:35:14 PM Confirmation: Personnel Board
03:51:16 PM SB201
03:59:10 PM SB177
04:25:54 PM SB262
04:41:48 PM Adjourn
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+= SB 201 OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TELECONFERENCED
Moved CSSB 201(STA) Out of Committee
-- Public Testimony --
+= SB 177 AI, DEEPFAKES, CYBERSECURITY, DATA XFERS TELECONFERENCED
Heard & Held
*+ SB 262 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TASK FORCE TELECONFERENCED
Heard & Held
Consideration of Governor’s Appointees:
Donald Handeland
<Above Item Rescheduled from 4/2/24>
-- Public Testimony --
+ Bills Previously Heard/Scheduled TELECONFERENCED
**Streamed live on AKL.tv**
        SB 177-AI, DEEPFAKES, CYBERSECURITY, DATA XFERS                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:59:10 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  KAWASAKI   reconvened  the   meeting  and   announced  the                                                               
consideration  of  SENATE  BILL  NO.  177  "An  Act  relating  to                                                               
artificial  intelligence; requiring  disclosure  of deepfakes  in                                                               
campaign communications; relating  to cybersecurity; and relating                                                               
to data privacy."                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
3:59:52 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR KAWASAKI solicited a motion.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
3:59:57 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MERRICK moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for                                                                
SB 177, work draft 33-LS1061\S, as the working document.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:00:09 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR KAWASAKI objected for purposes of discussion.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
4:00:23 PM                                                                                                                    
STEPHEN KNOUSE, Staff, Senator Hughes, Alaska State Legislature,                                                                
Juneau, Alaska, presented the summary of changes for SB 177.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
[Original punctuation provided.]                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
              Summary of Changes in State Affairs                                                                             
                 Committee Substitute to SB 177                                                                               
                     Version B to Version S                                                                                   
                                                                                                                              
     Page  1,  lines  1-3:  Change of  title  from  "An  Act                                                                    
     relating   to    artificial   intelligence;   requiring                                                                    
     disclosure  of  deepfakes in  campaign  communications;                                                                    
     relating  to   cybersecurity;  and  relating   to  data                                                                    
     privacy."  to   "An  Act  relating  to   disclosure  of                                                                    
     election-related   deepfakes;   relating  to   use   of                                                                    
     artificial   intelligence   by  state   agencies;   and                                                                    
     relating to transfer of  data about individuals between                                                                    
     state agencies." Cybersecurity  fits under the category                                                                    
     of use of AI by state agencies.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     Page  1,  line  5:  Section 15.13  is  now  recoded  to                                                                    
     Section 15.80.                                                                                                             
     Page  1,  line  6:  Recodes  section  15.13.093  to  be                                                                    
     Section 15.80.009                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, lines 6-7:  Includes contracted content creator                                                                    
     of  election-related  deepfakes  as being  required  to                                                                    
     include a disclosure.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Page  1,  line  8-9: Election-related  deepfakes  which                                                                    
     require   disclosure  statements   expand  to   include                                                                    
     propositions, and removes political parties.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     Page  1, lines  10-11: Adds  "or by  another means"  to                                                                    
     deepfake  disclosure to  cover content  created by  any                                                                    
     means, not just artificial intelligence.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, lines 1-6:  Sentence referring to communication                                                                    
     "that  includes  audio   component"  changes  to  "that                                                                    
     consists   only  of   audio",  and   modifies  deepfake                                                                    
     disclosure requirements to  include placement intervals                                                                    
     of disclosure.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Inserts    clarifying   term    "election-related"   to                                                                    
     references of  "communication" pertaining  to deepfakes                                                                    
     in the following places:                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1,  lines 7,  10, 11, and  13    broadcast, cable,                                                                    
     satellite, Internet, or other digital communication                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     Page  2, line  1    requires the  disclosure to  remain                                                                    
     onscreen throughout the entirety of the communication                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2,  line 2    requires the  disclosure be  read in                                                                    
     audio  communications at  the  beginning,  end, and  at                                                                    
     least   once   every   two   minutes   if   the   audio                                                                    
     communication is longer than two minutes                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2,  line 8- prohibits  a person from  removing the                                                                    
     disclosure statement from known deepfake materials                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2,  lines 14,  15, and 17-  allows a  candidate or                                                                    
     proposition group suffering  damages to seek injunctive                                                                    
     relief                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2,  line 25- injunctive  relief does not  apply to                                                                    
     paid  election-related  communication  broadcast  by  a                                                                    
     radio, television, cable, or  satellite provider if the                                                                    
     provider  has  made  a  good   faith  effort  that  the                                                                    
     communication does not contain a deepfake                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     Page    3,   line    15-   defines    "election-related                                                                    
     communication"  as   communication  that   directly  or                                                                    
     indirectly  identifies a  candidate or  proposition and                                                                    
     is  disseminated to  an audience  that includes  voters                                                                    
     who have  the opportunity to  vote on the  candidate or                                                                    
     proposition.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, lines 7-9:  Prohibits entities from omitting or                                                                    
     removing required deepfake disclosures.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, lines 10-12:  Makes entities violating required                                                                    
     disclosures  liable to  candidate or  proposition group                                                                    
     for   damages   suffered   by  omission   of   deepfake                                                                    
     disclosure, full attorney fees, and costs.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     Page  2, lines  13-17:  Includes  injunctive relief  to                                                                    
     prohibit  dissemination of  deepfakes  with omitted  or                                                                    
     removed disclosures.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Page  2,  line  19:   Makes  liability  and  disclosure                                                                    
     exceptions for satire, parody.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Page  2,  line   20  -  3,  line   2:  Makes  liability                                                                    
     exceptions     for    traditional     and    electronic                                                                    
     broadcasting,  and  publications  that  adhere  to  the                                                                    
     statement  requirements applicable  to the  media form.                                                                    
     In  the case  of  paid election-related  communications                                                                    
     without   disclosures,   due   diligence   to   confirm                                                                    
     communication did not include deepfakes.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2:  Re-lettering subsections to  accommodate newly                                                                    
     inserted changes to Section 1.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Page 3,  lines 15-24: Insert definition  for "election-                                                                    
     related     communications,"     "proposition,"     and                                                                    
     "proposition group."                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Inserts  term  "generative"  to   specify  type  of  AI                                                                    
     (generative  vs. rules-based)  or data  being addressed                                                                    
     in the following places:                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     Page  3,  line  28   to  exclude  rules-based  AI  from                                                                    
     inventory.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     Page 4,  line 9 to  exclude rules-based AI  from impact                                                                    
     assessments.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     Page 5, lines  3, 11, and 12 to  exclude rules-based AI                                                                    
     in  state  agency  use requirements  for  consequential                                                                    
     decisions and prospective employees hiring videos.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     Page  6,   line  2  to  exclude   rules-based  AI  from                                                                    
     regulations     where     development,     procurement,                                                                    
     implementation,   use   and  system   assessments   are                                                                    
     concerned regarding consequential decisions.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     Page 5,  lines 6-7: Expands data  collection consent to                                                                    
     "from or about" an individual.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Page  5,   lines  19-21:   Removes  specific   list  of                                                                    
     adversarial countries to the  United States and permits                                                                    
     the department  of administration to  designate foreign                                                                    
     adversaries (as determined by US  Department of State                                                                      
     see Page 6, lines 12-13).                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     Page  5,  lines  22-27: Removes  use  of  "multi-factor                                                                    
     authentication"  and   inserts  current   security  and                                                                    
     privacy   controls  as   specified   by  the   National                                                                    
     Institute of Standards and Technology.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Page 5, lines 28-30:  Removes seeking "the individual's                                                                    
     consent" for  inter-agency data transfers  and replaces                                                                    
     with "giving notice to the individual".                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Page  6, line  24    Page  7, line  2: Establishes  new                                                                    
     section AS  44.99.760 for exemptions to  the Department                                                                    
     of  Public  Safety  in   cases  of  criminal  offenses,                                                                    
     missing  persons,  and  exigent circumstances  as  they                                                                    
     pertain  to  inventories,  impact assessments,  AI  use                                                                    
     requirements  for state  agencies,  and data  transfers                                                                    
     between state agencies.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Page 7,  line 3:  Recodes definition  section 44.99.760                                                                    
     to section 44.99.770.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Page  7,  lines  4-5:  Removes  current  definition  of                                                                    
     "artificial intelligence"  and inserts  new definitions                                                                    
     for  "artificial intelligence",  "generative artificial                                                                    
     intelligence",     and      "rules-based     artificial                                                                    
     intelligence".                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Page   8,  lines   1-4:   Adds   additional  types   of                                                                    
     information that  qualify as "sensitive  personal data"                                                                    
     to  include   an  individual's  bank   account,  social                                                                    
     security  number, or  other personal  identifier issued                                                                    
     to an individual by a government or institution.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     Page  8, lines  12-15: Insert  new section  to restrict                                                                    
     applicability of the AS 44.99.750  enacted by sec. 2 of                                                                    
     the bill  to acts  or omissions  occurring on  or after                                                                    
     the effective date.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     There are no other changes to the bill.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
4:06:55 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR KAWASAKI referred  to CSSB 177, Section 2, page  5, line 3,                                                               
lines  11-12, which  discuss utilizing  rules-based  AI in  state                                                               
agencies. He  asked for clarification  on whether  that provision                                                               
is exempting rules-based AI from certain requirements.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
4:07:31 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR HUGHES  explained that  rules-based AI,  which can  be as                                                               
simple as  a spreadsheet, has been  in use for some  time without                                                               
raising  public  concern or  issues.  The  focus  of SB  177  and                                                               
similar  efforts  nationwide  is  to  enhance  efficiency,  cost-                                                               
effectiveness and  reduce the burden  of mundane tasks  for state                                                               
workers  while assuring  the public  of responsible  AI use.  She                                                               
noted that  while rules-based AI has  been in use for  some time,                                                               
they  are  focused  here  on  generative AI,  which  is  the  new                                                               
emergent   technology.   Historically,   there   have   been   no                                                               
significant concerns  regarding harm  to individuals  from rules-                                                               
based AI,  which is why  it was not  a focus of  the legislation.                                                               
However, she noted that the  committee could choose to reconsider                                                               
this aspect if desired.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
4:09:10 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  KAWASAKI  found no  further  objection  and CSSB  177  was                                                               
adopted as the working document.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
4:10:00 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  HUGHES highlighted  her  involvement  with the  National                                                               
Conference   of  State   Legislatures   Working   Group  on   AI,                                                               
emphasizing  the  importance  of  responsible  implementation  in                                                               
state  agencies.  The  compilation  of ideas  was  gathered  from                                                               
various organizations, including  the Reason Foundation, Stanford                                                               
Law School,  and Alaska's  Department of  Information Technology.                                                               
She  expressed   the  need  to  address   political  deep  fakes,                                                               
especially in the  context of the 2024  elections, advocating for                                                               
transparency  without  infringing  on   freedom  of  speech.  The                                                               
initial draft  for SB  177 was  a starting  point, with  room for                                                               
adjustments   based  on   feedback   and  listed   a  number   of                                                               
organizations  and   groups  whose  input  has   been  heard  and                                                               
incorporated as  well as activity  in the House.  The distinction                                                               
between  rules-based and  generative  AI  was underscored,  along                                                               
with  the necessity  to address  ballot  propositions within  the                                                               
legislation.   She   acknowledged    ongoing   work   to   ensure                                                               
technological neutrality,  noting the  difference between  and AI                                                               
deep fake and  work that has been done simply  by someone skilled                                                               
in  Photoshop, protection  of individuals'  information, and  the                                                               
right to sue  the state for consequential harm.  he noted further                                                               
work  is needed  on  the issues  of  potential litigation,  which                                                               
would suit the Judiciary Committee.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
4:17:03 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MERRICK  mentioned the  importance of  SB 177.  She asked                                                               
how  the determination  of satire  or  parity would  be made  and                                                               
inquired  about  the  enforcement  mechanisms  for  the  proposed                                                               
legislation.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
4:17:18 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  HUGHES  noted that  issues  regarding  satire or  parody                                                               
would likely  be brought  to the attention  of the  Alaska Public                                                               
Offices Commission, as the proposal  falls under a section of law                                                               
related to them.  She mentioned that a definition  for satire and                                                               
parody is not included in  the bill because courts typically rely                                                               
on a  general understanding. She expressed  openness to including                                                               
a definition if necessary, emphasizing  that it usually hinges on                                                               
what a reasonable person would perceive as satire or comedy.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
4:18:05 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  KAWASAKI  inquired  about  the new  draft  regarding  deep                                                               
fakes,  specifically  addressing   their  use  in  advertisements                                                               
across  various  media  platforms,  including  the  internet.  He                                                               
raised concerns  about the ability to  create entirely artificial                                                               
personas for  promotional purposes,  suggesting that  these could                                                               
be  designed to  convey  positive messages  about individuals  or                                                               
products.  He questioned  whether the  legislation would  require                                                               
disclosures indicating  that such  representations are  not based                                                               
on   real  people,   similar  to   disclaimers   often  seen   in                                                               
advertisements,  such as  "five out  of six  doctors prefer  this                                                               
medicine."  He  sought  clarification  on whether  this  kind  of                                                               
disclosure was part of the envisioned framework in the bill.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
4:19:32 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  HUGHES   clarified  that,  as  currently   written,  the                                                               
definition would  only apply if  a deep  fake made a  real person                                                               
appear to  say or do something  they did not actually  say or do,                                                               
or  if it  gives a  misleading impression  of an  individual. She                                                               
stated  that  the  example   Chair  Kawasaki  provided  regarding                                                               
entirely  artificial personas  would  not be  covered under  this                                                               
definition, indicating the  need for an addition to  the bill. SB
177  was   originally  designed  to  be   neutral.  However,  she                                                               
recognized  that candidates  could create  deep fakes  that could                                                               
either harm their opponents or  enhance their own images, such as                                                               
falsely claiming awards.  While the previous version  of the bill                                                               
focused  solely on  injurious deep  fakes directed  at opponents,                                                               
the   new  version   allows  for   both  positive   and  negative                                                               
portrayals. However,  she noted  that if a  completely fabricated                                                               
persona were given a name, it  might then fall under the existing                                                               
definition. Conversely, a generic deep  fake featuring a group of                                                               
manufactured individuals  expressing support would likely  not be                                                               
included under the bill.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:21:06 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  BJORKMAN  inquired  about  the concerns  raised  by  the                                                               
Alaska  Broadcasters  Association regarding  potential  liability                                                               
for broadcasters  airing commercials  or stories  containing deep                                                               
fakes.  He requested  clarification on  the aspects  of the  bill                                                               
that  provide  protection  to broadcasters,  news  agencies,  and                                                               
others  disseminating information  to the  public, ensuring  they                                                               
are safeguarded  against lawsuits or misleading  information from                                                               
bad actors.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:21:56 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR HUGHES  highlighted Sec. 15.80.009(e) of  CSSB 177, which                                                               
addresses concerns raised by  the Alaska Broadcasters Association                                                               
regarding potential liability when  airing commercials or stories                                                               
containing deep fakes.  The intent is to hold the  creator of the                                                               
deep fakes responsible, not the  broadcasters or other platforms.                                                               
Newscasts may  report on a deep  fake and show it,  but they must                                                               
include a  disclosure regarding the authenticity  of the content.                                                               
The responsibility ultimately  lies with the creator  of the deep                                                               
fake. For  example, if a  candidate hires a marketing  company to                                                               
produce  campaign materials,  the  candidate  is responsible  for                                                               
ensuring the proper  disclosures are made, such as  the "paid for                                                               
by" information. However, if a  candidate specifically requests a                                                               
marketing company to create a  deep fake, knowing it will mislead                                                               
voters, both  the candidate  and the  marketing company  would be                                                               
held  accountable.  The  marketing  company would  also  need  to                                                               
include  a disclosure,  which would  have legal  implications. In                                                               
summary,  the bill  aims to  ensure that  the responsibility  for                                                               
creating  misleading  deep  fakes  falls on  the  individuals  or                                                               
entities   that  produce   them,   protecting  broadcasters   and                                                               
platforms from liability.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
4:24:18 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR KAWASAKI held SB 177 in committee.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:24:52 PM                                                                                                                    
At ease                                                                                                                         

Document Name Date/Time Subjects
CS SB 201.pdf SSTA 4/4/2024 3:30:00 PM
SB 201
CS SB 177.pdf SSTA 4/4/2024 3:30:00 PM
SB 177
SB0262A.pdf SSTA 4/4/2024 3:30:00 PM
SB 262
SB 262 Sponsor Statement.pdf SSTA 4/4/2024 3:30:00 PM
SB 262
SB 262 Sectional Analysis Version A.pdf SSTA 4/4/2024 3:30:00 PM
SB 262