Ohio lawmakers have introduced a bill that would crack down on artificial intelligence, including through requiring a watermark on anything that is AI-generated.
Under , if AI programs neglect to include watermarks or individuals remove them after the fact, they could be sued by the attorney general or for damages by individual residents.
The bill also adds 鈥渟imulated obscene material鈥� to the state鈥檚 definition of child pornography, making it a third-degree felony to create or distribute it and a fourth-degree felony to buy or have it.
In February, the federal court in the Western District of Kentucky a Louisville teacher for distribution of child sexual abuse materials, some of which had been altered. Sen. Louis Blessing (R-Colerain Township) said reading about the case was 鈥渦nbelievably frightening,鈥� as Kentucky statute does similarly little to address the issue.
鈥淚t looks like child porn, basically is child porn, but since it鈥檚 AI, somehow in the eyes of the law it鈥檚 not accounted for, and that鈥檚 just wrong,鈥� Blessing said in an interview.
A further-along that includes similar child sexual abuse material provisions is making its way through the Kentucky General Assembly this legislative session.
Blessing introduced SB 217 with Sen. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) in late January, Blessing said, after Attorney General Dave Yost鈥檚 office reached out in the fall about getting a bill drafted. Yost has already publicly backed the proposal.
鈥淐hild pornography has long been outlawed in Ohio, but the unchecked rise of AI has created a gray area for predators to fuel their sick fantasies,鈥� he said in a news release.
So far, one Democrat鈥擲en. Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati)鈥攊s cosponsoring SB 217.
Blessing said emerging, and constantly changing, tech can be like Whac-A-Mole. 鈥淚t's not something that's easy to legislate because the regulatory terrain here is so new,鈥� he said.
The bill is narrowly tailored, he said鈥攊t wouldn鈥檛 target two consenting adults who might create AI pornography. But another set of provisions in the bill would prohibit using someone鈥檚 voice or likeness without their permission 鈥渇or malicious purposes,鈥� making it a crime as well.
SB 217 was referred to the senate judiciary committee in February but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.