Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has signed the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act into law, establishing disclosure requirements for advertisements that use artificial intelligence to create misleading impressions about products or services. The measure covers advertising shown in Pennsylvania, including material produced outside the state.
The law addresses synthetic content that could leave consumers with a false understanding of the nature, origin or authenticity of what is being advertised. Its reach spans different advertising formats, from television commercials to printed flyers, with disclosures required in the same format as the advertisement.
The central distinction is between using AI in an advertisement and using it in a way that misleads consumers. The bill's language, as introduced, prohibited advertisers from creating or distributing advertisements that use synthetic content to produce a false consumer perception without a clear and conspicuous disclosure. It specified that the notice must tell consumers that content in the advertisement was generated or modified using artificial intelligence.
That approach makes disclosure, rather than an outright prohibition on AI-generated advertising, the mechanism for addressing deceptive uses. Generative AI tools can produce images, voices, video and text, allowing advertisers to create promotional material without the conventional production work those formats previously required. The same capabilities can make it harder for viewers to distinguish a depiction of an actual product or service from a synthetic representation.
The geographic scope is also important for businesses operating beyond Pennsylvania. Because the requirements apply to advertisements shown in the state, producing a commercial elsewhere does not by itself place it outside the law's reach. Advertisers using campaigns across multiple markets will therefore need to consider where their material appears, not simply where it was made.
Questions remain about how some of the measure's terms will be interpreted. Mashable, citing reporting by The Verge, highlighted concerns that the threshold for content being significantly modified could be subjective. That distinction matters because AI tools can be used at different stages of production, from making limited edits to generating an advertisement's principal imagery or audio.
The coverage also identified exceptions for parody, satire, commentary and criticism as a potential source of uncertainty. Applying those exceptions may require distinguishing between an advertisement's creative presentation and representations that could mislead a prospective buyer. The supplied reports do not establish how those boundaries will be resolved in individual cases.
The measure adds an AI-specific disclosure requirement to the broader consumer-protection issue of deceptive advertising. Advertising rules have long focused on whether promotional claims or presentations mislead consumers; synthetic media introduces another question about whether the material itself creates a false impression. For advertisers serving Pennsylvania, the practical issue will be identifying covered AI-generated or AI-modified content and presenting the required notice clearly within the advertising format they use.
Sources: Mashable, Mashable SEA