LIBERTYVILLE – President Joe Biden issued a landmark executive order to establish new safety and security stands for artificial intelligence, a move applauded by State Senator Mary Edly-Allen and State Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz.

“We need to balance rapidly progressing technology that maximizes artificial intelligence possibilities while also protecting against the potential harms it can cause,” said Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville). “We are starting to see how unrestricted technology can do harm without practical safeguards in place. I applaud the Biden administration for taking urgent action to work toward ending the exploitation, humiliation and harassment that AI has caused.”

President Biden issued an executive order Monday to establish new standards or AI safety and security, protect Americans’ privacy, advance equity and civil rights, stand up for consumers and workers, promote innovation and competition, and more.

The move comes just months after Edly-Allen and Gong-Gershowitz visited the White House to discuss ways to combat online abuse, hate and harassment at the federal and state level.

This year, Edly-Allen and Gong-Gershowitz were instrumental in passing a measure to crack down on the abusive and harmful use of digital forgeries – also known as deepfakes. The law – found within House Bill 2123 – creates a civil cause of action against any person who knowingly distributes, creates or solicits a digital forgery of another individual without their consent and for the purposes of harassing, extorting, threatening or causing harm to the falsely depicted individual.

Previously, the two legislators led legislation to create the Civil Remedies for Nonconsensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images Act, allowing victims of revenge porn to recover economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.

“AI is a rapidly-developing tool that fundamentally impacts every sector of our society, including individual safety and civil rights,” said Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview). “We must ensure that appropriate legal protections and standards are in place to properly address the complex set of dangers and opportunities that AI introduces in order to effectively safeguard individual consumers and the public against the inherent risks to safety, security, and truth it can pose.”

Edly-Allen and Gong-Gershowitz will continue to advocate for ways to provide protection and security from the ever-growing AI industry.