An overwhelming majority of Americans across the political spectrum support protections against media “deepfakes” that use a person’s voice and visual likeness without permission.
That’s according to a new opinion survey outfrom Boston University and Ipsos. More than four of five (84%) respondents agreed or strongly agreed that individuals should be protected from the unauthorized use of their voice and visual likeness in digital replicas created by artificial intelligence, or AI.
“As social media platforms scale back content moderation and generative AI creates realistic imitations of celebrities, creators, and journalists, disinformation is spreading faster and more widely than ever before,” said Michelle Amazeen, associate professor and CRC director at Boston University. “In this confusing environment, one principle has strong bipartisan support: the public overwhelmingly agrees that everyone’s voice and image should be protected from unauthorized AI-generated recreations.”
In the same survey, respondents agreed or strongly agreed by wide margins with other statements about the deceptive use of AI and technology in digital media:
- A.I.-generated content posted to social media platforms should be clearly labeled and watermarked: 84% agreed or strongly agreed.
- Social media platforms should be required to remove unauthorized deepfakes just as they would pull down copyrighted music: 81% agreed or strongly agreed.
- Social media platforms should provide transparent appeals processes for individuals to contest unauthorized AI generated representations of their voice and visual likeness: 79% agreed or strongly agreed.
- Individuals should have the right to license their voice and visual likeness for AI training with control over how their digital identity is used: 75% agreed or strongly agreed.
“People are clearly more comfortable with actions that are framed as protections from harm than those framed as ownership rights,” said Susanna Lee, an assistant professor at Boston University and a survey collaborator.
Support for protections was similar among both Democrats and Republicans. For example, 84% of Republicans agreed or strongly agreed with protections against “deepfakes” in media that use a person’s voice and visual likeness without permission, statistically indistinguishable from the 90% of support among Democrats. Similarly, 80% of Republicans and 87% of Democrats said they agreed or strongly agreed that “social media platforms should be required to remove unauthorized deepfakes just as they would pull down copyrighted music.”
