Pennsylvania has enacted a law requiring advertisements that were significantly generated or modified by artificial intelligence to carry a disclosure in the same medium as the ad. The rule covers text, still images, audio and video, regardless of where the material was created.
That reach means an advertiser could add labels to campaigns shown in several states if Pennsylvania is among their markets. The measure places the state among the first to impose a broad disclosure requirement on commercial synthetic media rather than focusing only on election material or impersonation.
The Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act contains important ambiguities. It does not precisely define when an AI modification becomes “significant.” Parody, satire, commentary, criticism and material that is evidently fictional are exempt. The wording also ties disclosure to synthetic content that creates a false consumer perception about a product or service, leaving uncertainty about what counts as false and who makes that judgment.
Those gaps will shape the law’s practical effect. A fully generated commercial appears easier to classify than a photo lightly edited with an AI tool or copy polished by a writing assistant. Advertisers now need records of how campaign assets were produced and a process for deciding when a label applies. Regulators and courts may ultimately have to define the boundary that the statute leaves open.