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)