By staff reports OKLAHOMA CITY– Multiple Artificial Intelligence-related bills did not make it through the state Legislature’s most recent session; however, Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond recently endorsed federal legislation to combat the use of AI in child exploitation.
“While the rapid development of AI can hold great promise for humanity, it also has the potential to be extremely dangerous,” Drummond said in a press release. “In this quickly evolving high-tech environment, we must ensure there are laws in place to protect children.”
Congressman Nick Langworthy (R-New York) is chief sponsor of the Child Exploitation and Artificial Intelligence Expert Commission Act of 2024.The bill, House Resolution 8005, was introduced in April to address the creation of child sexual abuse material using AI. A commission would be established to develop a legal framework that will assist law enforcement in preventing, detecting and prosecuting AI-generated crimes against children, said information at langworthy.house.gov.
Drummond joined 43 other state and territory attorneys general in sending a recent letter endorsing the proposed act to Langworthy. In part, the letter noted that, “A knife or hammer is a useful tool in the right hands. But in the wrong hands, it's a dangerous weapon. It's the same with AI. We are hopeful the creation and work of this commission will result in appropriate safety measures and updates to existing laws so we can protect children from being digitally exploited and hold criminals accountable.”
Oklahoma lawmakers did address the specific use of AI in child pornography, through a measure, House Bill 3642, authored by Rep. Toni Hasenbeck (R-Elgin). It established the Oklahoma Law on Obscenity and Child Pornography and was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt in April. In part, the law expands the definition of child pornography to include computer- generated or altered images of children being forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Drummond had requested the bill.
Specifically, if approved, the Child Exploitation and Artificial Intelligence Expert Commission Act would:
• Investigate and assess how AI may be used to commit a child exploitation crime;
• Evaluate the ability to prevent, detect and prosecute a child exploitation crime committed using AI under the law in effect during the period of the evaluation of the Commission; and
• Analyze the efficacy of the current legal framework to charge individuals suspected of using AI to create CSAM and recommend changes to the current statute.
“This is just the first step to confront these challenges head-on and create a safer digital environment for the most vulnerable Americans,” said Langworthy.