Stacy Garrity AI Ad Highlights Lack of Pennsylvania Deepfake Laws

Pennsylvania Governor’s Race Tests AI Political Ad Waters as Election Nears

With Pennsylvania’s midterm elections less than a week away, a campaign advertisement released by the Republican challenger for governor, Stacy Garrity, has thrust the absence of state deepfake regulations into sharp focus. The spot targets Democratic incumbent Josh Shapiro, utilizing artificial intelligence to generate an apparent replica of Shapiro.

#PennsylvaniaGovernorStacy Garrity releases AI ad that attacks Josh Shapiro “This ad was created with AI, thanks to big beautiful data centers. Fact is, I was the one who fast-tracked data centers right here in PA, right after they handed me $5 million in political… pic.twitter.com/lWYBh1B6FI”

— https://x.com/PollTracker2024/status/2111911215563764045

The ad opens with an AI-generated version of Shapiro grinning as he opens the doors to the governor’s office, flanked by American and Pennsylvania flags. “Hello there. I’m Josh Shapiro, and I’ve been very busy. It started with all those sexual harassment scandals,” the digital avatar says, before pointing viewers toward a real New York Times headline regarding a sexual harassment complaint against an aide. The video runs for roughly 45 seconds without any watermark or on-screen disclosure before the synthetic Shapiro states, “This ad was created with AI, thanks to big beautiful data centers.”

The Regulatory Gap in Pennsylvania Election Law

Currently, Pennsylvania law contains no prohibitions against deepfakes in political advertising, nor does it mandate disclaimers for artificially generated campaign media. While a spokesperson for the real Shapiro condemned the spot as “cheap” and “dishonest” in a statement to Axios, Garrity maintained to KDKA-TV that she stands firmly by the ad.

Legislative efforts to close the gap have stalled in Harrisburg. Last year, the state House approved a bill designed to regulate deepfakes in campaign advertisements, but the measure failed to clear the state Senate. More recently, in May, state Sen. Lisa Boscola circulated a memo detailing plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit AI-generated or AI-altered video, audio, or images of a candidate within the 90-day window preceding an election. That bill has not yet been formally introduced.

Pennsylvania’s current legislative void stands in contrast to several surrounding jurisdictions. Neighboring states including Delaware, Maryland, and New York have already enacted laws either outright prohibiting election deepfakes or requiring clear disclaimers notifying voters when campaign content is artificially generated.