And they're already trying. If they succeed, it will be a heavy blow to how you can utilize the First Amendment. 

According to The Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to begin crafting laws around AI, not necessarily just for companies, but for you. Just by the way he talks, you can tell they were waiting for a moment to begin enacting their agenda for AI against you, and they got it through Elon Musk: 

“Look, deepfakes are a serious, serious threat to this democracy. If people can no longer believe that the person they’re hearing speak is actually the person, this democracy has suffered — it will suffer — in ways that we have never seen before,” Schumer said last week in an interview with NBC News. “And if people just get turned off to democracy, Lord knows what will happen.”

...

His recent push for regulation of the emerging technology in elections comes after billionaire Elon Musk a shared a fake video of Vice President Harris using AI to mimic her voice and spew insults about her campaign and President Biden — who dropped out of the 2024 race last month and subsequently endorsed the vice president.

The video Schumer is referencing is one Musk posted to X where a clearly deep faked voice of VP Kamala Harris was used to make a funny video where "she" pointed out that Biden was senile and that she was a deep state puppet herself. Few people honestly believed it was real, but true to Democrat form, Schumer is not going to let this moment pass by without a good swing at authoritarian nonsense that could bear fruit for Democrats down the line: 

“They had some bipartisan support in the committee, Sen. [Amy] Klobuchar did a good job getting through, and one of them just eliminates all AI in commercials and solicitations,” he told the outlet. “And the other at least has disclosures, so you know that AI is used.”

“These are American bills. We’re going to fight because democracy is at such risk. We’re going to fight to get these done in every way that we can. And we hope our Republican friends will relate, as I said that we do have some Republican support,” the Senate leader said. “This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. Democracy is at risk if these deepfakes are allowed to prevail.”

You know when a Democrat uses the phrase "Democracy is at risk" that they're up to no good. 

Reading what the bills they introduced do, you can get a sense of what they're wanting: 

The Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act would ban using AI to create deceptive content that falsely depicts federal candidates in political ads to influence elections. The AI Transparency in Elections Act would require disclosures on ads that have content generated by AI.

They don't want you using AI to poke fun at them. That's the bottom line. They think AI can be used as an effective tool to meme them, and they're absolutely right. It is something of a danger to their reputation and credibility, and the devil hates nothing more than being mocked. 

The main points of this bill are: 

• Ban the use of AI to generate materially deceptive content about federal candidates in political ads.
• Amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to prohibit such AI-generated audio, images, or videos.
• Allow targeted candidates to have such content taken down and seek damages in federal court.
• Ensure exceptions for parody, satire, and AI content in news broadcasts.
• Strengthen election integrity while protecting First Amendment rights.

You might be pointing out that this doesn't sound so bad, given the fact that it ensures protections regarding parody and satire and respecting First Amendment rights. The issue is that this bill is filled with vagaries that could be used by government entities for overreach. 

“We have to balance the potential for innovation with the potential for deceptive or fraudulent use," said Sen. Deb Fisher (R-Neb.) "On top of that, we can’t lose sight of the important protections our constitution provides for free speech in this country. These two bills do not strike that careful balance.”

Fisher also noted that this shouldn't be a federal issue, but a state one. 

“Political campaigns themselves are already able, under existing state laws, to address fraudulent and defamatory ads and quickly seek their removal whether or not those ads were created using AI,” Fisher continued. “State laws may provide faster ways to seek removal of such ads than the federalized enforcement process in these bills.”

She's absolutely correct. 

The real issue comes down to whether we should allow the federal government to judge if an AI-generated video, image, or audio file is okay to release and if the method or manner of releasing it is legal. That's ripe for abuse, and you can just look at the reaction from Democrats to Musk's video as proof. 

Musk didn't release this in any official capacity. This wasn't sponsored by X or Tesla. This didn't come from a PAC or political organization. Musk just retweeted a funny video by a YouTuber named "Mr. Reagan." Yet, the Democrats are treating this as if it was a massive ploy for election interference and misinformation. 

Funny that they don't seem to be coming down on Google for that very provable thing, but I digress. 

Democrats didn't like that someone with a very large following could do something like that. They don't like that something went viral and was enjoyed by millions of people. They hate that Harris, whom they're trying their damnedest to prop up and make seem like the next candidate to win more votes than Obama, is being laughed at. 

So they're doing what Democrats do, maneuvering themselves into a position where, when something like that pops up, they can begin the process of lawfare to silence people. They don't even have to win, they just have to make it so expensive that anyone looking on is dissuaded from doing it themselves. 

Remember, they don't have to take your rights, they just have to make you afraid to use them. 

If Republicans are worth their salt, they'll make this a state-level issue. They'll make it clear that the federal government has no business discussing what is and isn't accepted speech from any person or organization, and that if laws are broken, the state-level authorities will handle it. 

But what Republicans can do is craft laws that make it clear that the federal government is barred from creating deceptive AI of any kind themselves. I'm noticing a lot of "you can't do that" from Democrats, but not a lot of "we can't do that either." 

As such, Republicans need to turn right around and make it clear to the United States that any creation of AI-generated videos, audio, or images (to be used against American people) is highly illegal. Republicans need to slam the door on government using AI to lie to the people and lock it. 

So let Republicans know now that any and all attempts to silence AI by the people will be met with fierce opposition from you and could ultimately cost them their jobs. Schumer is right about one thing, this could be a disaster, but this could be a disaster for us, not them. This could limit our free speech and that is unacceptable.