Celebrities Sound Alarm on AI-Generated Deepfake Fraud
Scammers are increasingly using AI-generated versions of celebrities like Steve Harvey to steal personal information and commit fraud. Harvey, known for his roles on “Family Feud” and his radio show, is now advocating for legislation to combat these deceptive practices.
I prided myself on my brand being one of authenticity, and people know that, and so they take the fact that I’m known and trusted as an authentic person, pretty sincere — Steve Harvey
Last year, Harvey was among the many celebrities whose voices were mimicked by AI to promote scams promising government funds. He is now speaking out and advocating for legislation and penalties for the creators of these scams, as well as the platforms that host them.
Legislative Efforts and Support
Congress is taking notice, considering legislation aimed at penalizing the malicious use of AI. An updated version of the No Fakes Act is being reintroduced with the goal of holding creators and platforms accountable for unauthorized AI-generated images, videos, and sound. This bipartisan effort includes senators like Chris Coons, Amy Klobuchar, Marsha Blackburn, and Thom Tillis.
This bill joins other legislation aimed at criminalizing AI-generated deepfake pornography, such as the Take It Down Act, which has also gained support from figures like Melania Trump.
Technological Solutions
As AI technology advances, companies like Vermillio AI are stepping in to help celebrities identify and combat deepfakes. Vermillio uses a platform called TraceID to track AI instances of their clients, automating takedown requests.
According to Vermillio CEO Dan Neely, the amount of deepfake content is exploding: “Back in 2018 there were maybe 19,000 pieces of deepfake content… Today, there are roughly a million created every minute.” Their technology uses “fingerprinting” to distinguish authentic content from AI-generated material. This involves crawling the web to identify images that have been tampered with using large language models (LLMs).
Broader Concerns and Challenges
Celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson have also voiced their support for legislation, highlighting the urgent need for action. However, some critics, including public advocacy organizations, worry that the No Fakes Act, in its current form, may introduce too much regulation, potentially endangering First Amendment rights and enabling misinformation.
Harvey emphasizes the urgency of addressing the issue: “The sooner we do something, I think the better off we’ll all be… How many people we got to watch get hurt by this before somebody does something?”
