NY Legislation Impacts Station AI Use

Legislation has been introduced in both the NY State Senate (S.8451) and the NY Assembly (A.8962A) that will impact the ability of stations to use AI. Over the past several years, local stations have commenced using AI in various capacities in a responsible manner.

 We are concerned the legislation will significantly limit the ability of a local station to use “AI” systems.  “AI” will become a necessary component for local stations to compete with Big Tech.  If used properly, “AI” will help stations remain competitive and continue to provide quality news and public affairs programs to their communities.  Local broadcast stations have every incentive to employ “AI” properly.  Failure to do so will undermine a station’s credibility in the community, leading to a loss of audience and revenue.  Accordingly, we do not believe the burdensome rules proposed by the legislation are necessary to protect the public interest. Our specific concerns are as follows:

• The legislation places barriers to stations using their own content to train their internal AI systems.  It would require a renegotiation for the use of this content. This approach conflicts with Federal copyright law.

• The legislation requires disclosures on all content that is created with the use of “AI.”  Given the broad definitions in the legislation, this could require stations to include labels on nearly all content that is broadcast.

• Contrary to the First Amendment, the legislation prevents stations from broadcasting content created by AI that has not been reviewed by a human being.

• Placing verbal disclosure labels on radio content uniquely harms radio stations and drives radio advertisers to other platforms. 

• Once an “AI” system is used, a station may not be able to make adjustments to its workforce. 

  
  

The economic survival of a local station is based on its reputation in the community. Stations are responsible for their broadcast content, whether created by a human being or a machine.  As stations begin deploying AI systems, there is a strong incentive to make sure communities are not misinformed due to the inappropriate use of “AI.”  Accordingly, there is no need for this legislation to protect our listeners and viewers. 

On the other hand, the legislation will undermine our ability to compete.  Stations must innovate to compete with “out of state” content provided by Big Tech.  Unfortunately, the legislation effectively prevents station from using “AI” as an innovative tool.  Such a result undermines our ability to compete and provide quality local news and public affairs programs.  As a result, the legislation has the unintended consequence of harming the production of local news content in New York.

We are in the process of meeting with members of the Senate and Assembly.  We hope we will be able to negotiate changes in the legislation.  We will keep you informed.

You can see a copy of the legislation here.

Our Memo in Opposition can be found here.