HELENA — Worries about the malicious use of AI in government work have sparked the drafting of two bills at the Montana Legislature that aim to limit its use and promote transparency, but both quickly drew criticism for their broadness.
House Bill 178, carried by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, would prohibit the use of AI in surveillance and facial recognition unless used to identify a missing person, a suspect in a serious crime or to identify corpses. HB 178 also requires that the use of AI in anything the government publishes be disclosed.
The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the bill Wednesday from one proponent and one opponent. Alex Sterhan, Director of External Affairs for the Montana Department of Justice, said the agency is in “soft” opposition to the bill because it would be too limiting for law enforcement.
“ And so it's a little bit hard to kind of put parameters on that right now and exactly what those tools can be used for. But I think in terms of the makeup of our state and the rurality of it – is it can really help us in scalability and getting that out there,” Sterhan said.
That same day, the Senate State Administration Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 25, carried by Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, which would require disclosure of “deepfakes” used in state elections.
Deepfakes are described in the bill as “AI-generated content or synthetic media that depicts a candidate or political party with the intent to injure the reputation of the candidate or party or otherwise deceive a voter.”
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Ellis said she has not heard of any use of deepfakes in Montana elections — this bill is simply preventative.
“ One of my concerns sitting in on [The State Administration and Veterans' Affairs Interim Committee] is that if we don't pass legislation this session in 2025, we're not passing anything until 2027 at the very earliest and we know this is probably coming,” Ellis said.
The two opponents of SB 25, both representing the Montana Broadcasters Association, which is a partner in the UM Legislative News Service, said they worried that broadcasters would be held responsible for any violations. The legislators who carried these bills said they would be open to making amendments.
Clayton Murphy is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at clayton.murphy@umconnect.umt.edu.
