Ep. 228: Does artificial intelligence have free speech rights?

In this live recording of “So to Speak” at the First Amendment
Lawyers Association meeting, Samir Jain, Andy Phillips, and
Benjamin Wittes discuss the legal questions surrounding free
speech and artificial intelligence.

Samir Jain is the vice president of policy at the Center for
Democracy and Technology. Andy Phillips is the managing partner
and co-founder at the law firm Meier Watkins Philips and Pusch.
Benjamin Wittes is a senior fellow in governance studies at the
Brookings Institution and co-founder and editor-in-chief of
Lawfare.


Read the transcript.


Timestamps: 


00:00 Intro


01:54 The nature of AI models


07:43 Liability for AI-generated content


15:44 Copyright and AI training datasets


18:45 Deepfakes and misinformation


26:05 Mandatory disclosure and AI watermarking


29:43 AI as a revolutionary technology


36:55 Early regulation of AI 


38:39 Audience Q&A


01:09:29 Outro


Show notes:


-Court cases:




Moody v. NetChoice (2023)




The New York Times Company v. Microsoft Corporation, et al
(2023)




Millette v. OpenAI, Inc (2024)




Walters v. OpenAI, L.L.C. (2024)




-Legislation:




Section 230 (Communications Decency Act of 1996)




AB 2839 - Elections: deceptive media in advertisements




AB 2655 - Defending democracy from deepfake deception Act of
2024




California AI transparency Act 




Colorado AI Act




NO FAKES Act of 2024 




-Articles:




“A machine with First Amendment rights,” Benjamin Wittes,
Lawfare (2023)




“22 top AI statistics and trends in 2024,” Forbes (2024)




“Global risks 2024: Disinformation tops global risks 2024 as
environmental threats intensify,” World Economic Forum (2024)




“Court lets first AI libel case go forward,” Reason (2024)




“CYBERPORN - EXCLUSIVE: A new study shows how pervasive and
wild it really is. Can we protect our kids – and free
speech?” TIME (1995)




“It was smart for an AI,” Lawfare (2023)