Google will now require advertisers to disclose if an election advertisement includes artificial intelligence-generated images, the latest effort by Big Tech to regulate AI ahead of the 2024 elections.
The search engine told advertisers that it will implement a policy update in mid-November that will require election-focused advertisements to have explicit statements addressing if there is AI-generated imagery within it, according to Bloomberg. For example, ads with AI images would have to have visible statements that "This audio was computer-generated" or "This image does not reflect real events."
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The policy update "will help further support responsible political advertising and provide voters with the information they need to make informed decisions," Google spokesman Michael Aciman said.
The policy does not apply to videos uploaded to YouTube that are not paid advertising, the company said, even if a political campaign uploads them. Google instead emphasized that YouTube's community guidelines, which prohibit digitally manipulated content that could cause public harm, would ban anything else posted to the platform if AI is used improperly.
Generative AI in election ads is something that tech companies and federal regulators are attempting to understand and set guardrails for. The Federal Election Commission voted in August to publish a petition that would amend the agency's definition of "fraudulent misrepresentation" to include deepfakes, or digitally altered images designed to spread false information.
At least two presidential candidates have used AI-generated images in their political campaigns. Former President Donald Trump published images featuring AI-generated images of himself, while Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) published an ad featuring false pictures of Trump hugging Anthony Fauci.
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Google has taken extra precautions in the past to ensure people did not spread false claims through election ads. In 2018, the company required users to undergo an identity verification process.
The company adopted a policy in 2020 that removed content spreading false claims about the 2020 elections. The company announced in June this year that it would stop removing those false claims.