What’s the news: The AMA is throwing its strong support behind a congressional effort to pass legislation that would help protect patients, physicians and the broader healthcare system from unauthorized, AI-generated deepfakes.
In May, a bipartisan group of members of Congress revised the Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe Act—dubbed the “NO FAKES Act”—to address the growing use of nonconsensual digital replications in audiovisual works or sound recordings.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the revised version of the NO FAKES Act in the Senate, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill out of committee last week. If the bill becomes law, it would protect physicians, musicians, actors and any individual affected by an AI-generated deepfake by:
- Holding individuals or companies liable if they distribute an unauthorized digital replica of an individual’s voice or visual likeness.
- Holding platforms liable for hosting an unauthorized digital replica if the platform has knowledge of the fact that the replica was not authorized by the individual depicted.
- Excluding certain digital replicas from coverage based on recognized First Amendment protections.
- Preempting future state laws regulating digital replicas.
The revised version addressed concerns by adding:
- A counternotice procedure to better protect Americans’ free-speech rights.
- An exemption for libraries, archives and research institutions to ensure that the study of digital replicas is not inhibited.
- Technical fixes to ensure the bill works as designed for streaming music platforms.
From AI implementation to digital health adoption and EHR usability, the AMA is fighting to make technology work for physicians, ensuring that it is an asset to doctors. That includes recently launching the AMA Center for Digital Health and AI to give physicians a powerful voice in shaping how AI and other digital tools are harnessed to improve the patient and clinician experience.
Why it matters: AI-generated deepfake “doctors” impersonate physicians, manipulate the public and often endorse unproven treatments.
These creations now garner millions of views on social media, with the content endorsing products for their creators’ financial gain. Meanwhile, patients can be exposed to content that can cause serious harm and the integrity of the greater healthcare system suffers as a result of these deepfake “doctors.”
“The NO FAKES Act is the real deal—an important step toward ensuring that innovation serves people, not those seeking to deceive them,” said AMA CEO John Whyte, MD, MPH, in a statement. “Artificial intelligence has tremendous potential to improve healthcare, but we are already seeing bad actors use AI-generated content to impersonate trusted voices, spread misinformation, and promote unproven treatments that can put patients at risk.
“Patients deserve to know that the information they receive from physicians is authentic and trustworthy,” he added. “Physicians deserve protection from the misuse of their identity, voice, and likeness. As technology evolves, our laws must evolve with it.”
In addition to the AMA, nearly 40 other organizations representing numerous interests endorsed the revised NO FAKES Act, including the American Bar Association and groups representing songwriters, artists, actors, authors and sexual assault survivors.
U.S. Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.) introduced a previous version of the NO FAKES Act in the House that the AMA has also endorsed.
“Americans from all walks of life are increasingly seeing AI being used to create deepfakes in ads, images, music, and videos without their consent,” Klobuchar said. “We need our laws to be as sophisticated as this quickly advancing technology.”
Blackburn said that “AI should empower innovation—not give scammers and online predators a free pass to exploit someone’s voice and visual likeness without permission.”
Dr. Whyte and the AMA applauded the Senate Judiciary Committee for advancing the NO FAKES Act and thanked the bill’s bipartisan sponsors for their leadership.
“We urge Congress to move quickly to pass this legislation and provide meaningful safeguards that protect patients, physicians and the integrity of our healthcare system,” Dr. Whyte said.
Learn more: Discover seven key policy principles that the AMA says should be part of a framework to address hazards of AI-generated deepfake “doctors,” including establishing that a physician’s identity is a protected right and that AI-generated or materially altered content depicting a physician be clearly and conspicuously labeled in plain language and include a watermark.
AMA policy recognizes that there are documented advantages of deepfake technology for medical education, training and patient engagement, but the policy states that there is a significant regulatory void that can result in harmful consequences.
The policy supports relevant organizations—including healthcare professionals, technology developers, government regulators, social media platforms and the public—in formulating comprehensive federal legislation and regulations regarding deepfake technology to uphold the integrity of the medical profession against malpractice, increase awareness of the risks associated with deepfake content and safeguard patient well-being across all communities.
