New York regulated "synthetic performers" not AI models, it's an important distinction for brands and creators to understand. my thread below goes into it. No, it doesn't mean influencers need to disclose AI touchups, or brands need to flag all AI use. It's much narrower. 👇

The law, S. 8420, is a transparency law requiring disclosure by advertisers if their ads use so-called "synthetic performers." Some definitions from the law: A "synthetic performer" is "a digitally created asset ... using generative artificial intelligence or software algorithms that is intended to create the impression that the asset is engaging in an audiovisual and/or visual performance of a human performer who is not recognizable as any identifiable natural performer." "generative artificial intelligence" means those AI models "that are self-supervised and emulate the structure and characteristics of input data to generate derived synthetic content."

The law targets ads specifically (not content generally) that use apparently-but-not-actually real humans. So, not deepfakes of actual people, not generated videos of yourself in different outfits. The law applies only to fake spokespersons and models, basically.

The law also has a bunch of carveouts. It doesn't apply to ads for movies, shows, video games, or other "expressive works" if the use of the synthetic performer "is consistent with its use in the expressive work"—so your AI movie trailer need not disclose the actors are fake.

The law also doesn't change any existing rights of privacy or publicity, and it doesn't apply to the platforms carrying the ad—so newspapers, TV stations, streaming services, etc. aren't covered. Also doesn't change anything about platforms' liability (or not) for user content.

The law is narrow and simple: you cannot pass off an AI-generated "person" as a real human endorsing or shilling your product without saying so. It's a disclosure requirement, not a ban. You can do whatever you want, you just need to flag the use of "synthetic persons."

What does the disclosure have to look like? The law doesn't say. Only specific requirement in the law is that the disclosure be "conspicuous" Follow other ad disclosure norms and you should be fine. #ad and Paid Partnership policies are good practices to follow (so maybe #sp?)