Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams told lawmakers: “It is illegal to impersonate a peace officer, and for good reason. It should be equally illegal to impersonate a secretary of state or county clerk and put out false information in any format about our elections.”?He was speaking Tuesday to a task force studying artificial intelligence. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Matthew Mueller)

Kentucky’s Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams told lawmakers it’s “too soon” to tell what effect artificial intelligence will have on elections but that it has “potential for significant impact,” and he urged them to consider making it a crime to impersonate an election official.

Adams appeared before the General Assembly’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force Tuesday to discuss AI, which has become a growing concern for possible influence in this year’s presidential election. A recent study from the Pew Research Center found 57% of U.S. adults were extremely or very concerned that people or groups seeking to influence the election would use AI to create fake or misleading information about presidential candidates and campaigns.?

“Should you take up AI legislation when you return in 2025, I would encourage you to consider prohibiting impersonation of election officials,” Adams told the task force. “It is illegal to impersonate a peace officer, and for good reason. It should be equally illegal to impersonate a secretary of state or county clerk and put out false information in any format about our elections.”?

Adams highlighted a bipartisan bill from Lexington legislators, Republican Sen. Amanda Mays Bledose and Democratic Caucus Chair Sen. Reggie Thomas, that would have limited the use of “deep fakes” or deceptive AI to influence elections in Kentucky. In the recent legislative session, the bill died in the House after gaining approval in the Senate.?

Adams gave an example of a political consultant receiving a fine of $6 million from the Federal Communications Commission for fake robocalls to New Hampshire voters that mimicked President Joe Biden. The calls encouraged voters to not vote in the state’s Democratic primary. Adams said the fine was for violating telecommunication law and New Hampshire brought criminal charges against the consultant because of a state law making it a crime to impersonate a candidate.?

“As you look to protect candidates and voters from such practices, I urge you to consider inclusion of election officials,” Adams said. “An impersonation of me or my deputy secretary or senior staff of the State Board of Elections or a county clerk actually could do more harm than impersonation of a candidate.”?

Adams noted that concerns of AI influence in elections is not just an American problem. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and South Africa, will also have consequential elections this year. Thus, they face issues with AI interference in elections as well.?

Bledsoe, who is a co-chair of the task force, said that there is tension between legislation aimed at preventing misuse of AI to influence elections and free speech protections. Adams said in response that laws against voter suppression do exist.?

“I think that the process and distrust of what is actually being said is the greatest danger to a voter, and we want to protect (the voter) as much as possible,” Bledose said.?

Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Veron, the other co-chair of the task force, said what Adams was asking was “very reasonable.”?

“It’s something I know that we’ve debated internally,” Bray said. “We’ve had Senate bills filed, we’ve had House bills filed, and it’s very clear that this is something that’s going to be with us as the technology evolves.”?