National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday during a session centered on the future of journalism. The executive argued to legislators that AI poses an existential threat to local media operations.
LeGeyt pointed to recent deep fake videos as reasons why the committee should consider placing someone restrictions on the use of Artificial Intelligence, including one video that was manipulated to show news anchors espousing anti-Semitic beliefs.
When asked by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) about a potential ban on deep fake images, Curtis LeGeyt argued the subcommittee was “absolutely right to prioritize this issue.”
“For local broadcasters, all our local personalities have is the trust of their audiences. And the second that that is undermined by disinformation and these technologies, these deep fakes are going to put all of that on steroids. It is just more noise, and I think we have seen the steady decline in our public discourse as a result of the fact that the public can’t separate fact from fiction,” LeGeyt testified.
“So, absolutely, this is an area that demands your attention — this committee’s attention. There are certainly some elements of this that, in the expressive context, the committee needs to be mindful of…but this is an issue that is existential for local news. It’s existential for our democracy, and we absolutely support this committee’s attention to it.”
