Courts.
A new Pennsylvania law will impose penalties for creating and distributing forged digital likenesses using artificial intelligence with the intent to defraud or injure.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, signed Senate Bill 649 into law last week after bipartisan approval in the Pennsylvania House and Senate.
The legislation establishes a misdemeanor crime for such offenses and increases it to a felony if the digital forgery is part of a scheme to defraud, coerce or commit theft of monetary assets or property.
“By signing this bill into law, we’re sending a clear message that if you use AI to defraud or exploit Pennsylvanians, you will be held accountable. My administration is committed to cracking down on scammers, reducing fraud, protecting consumers, and making sure Pennsylvanians of all ages can feel safe and confident in the digital age,” Shapiro said.
The move comes amidst a rise in AI-powered scams, including deepfake videos and voice cloning.
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging has reported a doubling of financial exploitation cases involving senior citizens since 2017.
State officials from aging, banking and securities, and insurance departments have been working to raise awareness about various scams, including those involving AI, according to a statement.
“Financial crimes involving artificial intelligence are on the rise, and it’s getting harder to tell what’s real and what’s fake,” said Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities Secretary Wendy Spicher. “It’s critical that consumers stay alert and informed, and know that help is just a call or click away if they have questions or concerns.”
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department has also collaborated with insurance companies to ensure their use of AI aligns with existing laws and avoids “unfair discrimination or inaccuracies.”
“Advancing technology offers real benefits, but scammers can exploit it to target Pennsylvanians,” said Pennsylvania Insurance Department Commissioner Michael Humphreys. “This law helps hold those bad actors accountable — and we remind everyone to verify calls or offers that sound too good to be true.”
The new law includes exceptions for satire, parody and constitutionally protected activities, as well as for law enforcement, developers of certain technology, and information service system firms.
The legislation is set to take effect within two months and comes after a law enacted last year that banned AI-generated child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate images.
