Last week, an AI video was released on social media portraying Vermont Congresswoman Becca Balint’s GOP challenger Mark Coester picking her up with a backhoe and dumping her in a garbage bin. Both individuals are synthetic AI images and were not created by either campaign. It is spurring debate across Vermont about the ethics of rendering people’s images without consent. During a stop in Burlington Monday, Balint, a Democrat, discussed several issues with reporters. Regarding the AI ad, she told WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley guardrails are needed to protect individuals’ rights.
It is AI slop. There's a lot of it. We're going to see, unfortunately, more of it because we have not, at the federal level, put any guardrails on this and we need to. Vermonters should know that when they see a picture of me, when they hear my voice, when they see me speaking, that it's actually me. And that's true for any candidate that's running right now. We should be doing everything that we can to instill confidence in our elections and not continue to erode them and I feel like this kind of AI slop erodes that trust that Vermonters feel that when they're seeing something, an ad on social media, that it’s real.
What kind of response are you getting from the constituents about that AI video?
Most people are absolutely disgusted by it. Actually, it was interesting. I was walking down the street in Brattleboro and somebody grabbed me and she said, "I'm so angry about this. I can't believe that this is where we are in our politics right now.” And she said, "I think it's incredibly dangerous for the democracy.” The things that I am saying, which I have never said, right, the things that I'm saying in that AI ad are going to leave somebody with an impression that is absolutely not true. So, for the most part, people have been both very supportive of me, very angry about what this means for the integrity of our elections.
Have you heard from other representatives in Congress, whether they're in the House or the Senate, if they've also experienced an AI like was put out regarding you and Mr. Coester?
So, we have heard from a lot of my colleagues. They know that this is a harbinger of terrible things to come for them as well. More broadly, look, AI needs guard rails. And I think a lot of Americans don't understand that right now as it exists you don't have a private right of action for your image, for your voice, for these AI deep fakes. And so I have introduced the No Fakes Act. There's a Senate companion version.
Going to national level. We supposedly have a deal between the US and Iran. What are your thoughts as we move forward here?
I am grateful that hopefully our troops will be coming home soon. That's what I want. I want Vermonters back home. They never should have been in harm's way in the first place. My main concern right now is with them and their families. My secondary concern is I don't see us any farther ahead. We do not have any guarantees from Iran that they will not pursue nuclear arms. Unlike what the President has said we have not made their military or their navy completely decimated. And until we can see what the actual deal is, and not these broad strokes, like, okay, the Strait of Hormuz is going to get opened. The Strait of Hormuz was open before. So we are back, not just to where we started, I feel like we've been set back because the Iran nuclear deal that was hammered out under President Obama had us in a much better situation. I want this to stick. Absolutely. I do not want this to fall apart but we have had other so-called deals that have fallen apart before. So, in terms of my level of confidence, my level of confidence is very low and until the President really reconsiders his tariff regimen, we're not going to see big decreases in prices.
Can you update us on anything that's going on regarding ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)?
So the most important thing for folks to know is the bill that was rammed through by the President and his Republican colleagues did not offer any, any additional accountability. Why is it that ICE, as a so-called law enforcement agency, is allowed to operate under policies that are not in line with any other law enforcement agency in this country? I find it to be just another means of terrorizing communities in Vermont and across the nation to try to bring us to submission because we’ll stop pushing back.
How optimistic are you about a potential blue wave during the general election, particularly as we see some of the nastiness across the country?
I'm more concerned about the gerrymandering that has happened and the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act. Many of my colleagues in Congress will not be back, not because they lost their election, but they have literally been drawn off the map. And so I'm still feeling optimistic because we know on a generic ballot Democrats are up between 10 and 15 points right now and I think that will make the difference. Will it be a wave? Uncertain. I do feel like we will have control over the House and hopefully start putting some guardrails and barriers on this administration.
The Vermont Legislature passed a bill this session that requires disclosure of the use of any synthetic media published within 90 days of an election. Act 75 became effective when Gov. Phil Scott signed it on March 5.
