It could soon be against the law to use artificial intelligence to impersonate someone with the intention of causing harm.

A bill making such AI deepfakes illegal passed the Maryland General Assembly last week and will go to Gov. Wes Moore for his signature.

The legislation comes two years after Dazhon Darien, a former Pikesville High School athletic director, was arrested for using artificial intelligence to impersonate his school’s principal, Eric Eiswert, to destroy his reputation. Because Maryland had no laws governing AI impersonation, Darien was charged with disturbing school operations. He entered an Alford plea and was sentenced to four months in jail, though he’s now in prison and facing multiple federal charges related to child sexual exploitation.

Sen. Kathryn Fry Hester, the Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the Pikesville incident a “major wake-up call,” showing that the law “hadn’t caught up with technology.” At the time, the software to impersonate someone’s voice was not widely available. Since then, the technology has advanced rapidly and become widespread.

Deepfakes have been a tool during midterm campaigns and a weapon against politicians. Hester noted a recent instance in which a Virginia Republican committee created AI-generated ads to attack Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

Hester is well versed on the issue. She’s served on the National Conference of State Legislatures Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Privacy for six years.

“If you use AI to deceive, defraud or harm someone, Maryland law is going to hold you responsible,” said Hester, who represents Howard and Montgomery counties. “It’s a commonsense bill. It protects people, it strengthens trust and it helps our legal system catch up to the world that we are living in.”

Hester noted that AI-related scams are “all over the place” because of how easy it is to access the tools for them. Officials at the state’s Department of Aging, for example, told her scammers are calling grandparents using voice clones of their grandchildren and pretending to be in distress, pressuring the grandparents to wire money, she said.

The FBI reported this month that AI scams accounted for 22,364 of internet crime complaints in 2025, “costing Americans nearly $893 million.”

Because artificial intelligence isn’t always used for nefarious purposes, the phrase “to cause harm” was added to the Maryland bill so it would not infringe on First Amendment rights, Hester said. The intent is what matters, she said.

All 50 states, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, introduced AI-related legislation in 2025, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That year, 38 states adopted or enacted around 100 measures.

North Dakota now has a law that prohibits anyone from using an AI-powered robot to stalk or harass other people.

Hester introduced the Maryland bill last year, but it didn’t get far. She said it was a capacity issue — the General Assembly has a lot of legislation to consider in just 90 days.

Maryland’s 2026 bill expands on identity fraud laws, Hester noted. It prohibits using someone else’s fingerprints, voice print or retina to cause harm.

The bill also applies identity fraud penalties. Violators could face a felony charge with prison sentences that could last as long as 20 years, depending on the circumstances. New penalties include a felony charge and maximum prison sentence of five years for involving one victim and 10 years for involving two or more. Victims can also take civil action against the accused — something Eiswert, the former Pikesville principal, has done.

Billy Burke, head of the Council of Administrative & Supervisory Employees — a union that represented Eiswert during the Pikesville High incident — called the bill a great first step. He recalled Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger noting the need for a law and said Hester’s bill is a “smart follow-up.”

Hester is hopeful Moore will sign her bill.

“This is about protecting people in all parts of their lives,” she said. “Their finances, their reputation, their safety, their peace of mind.”

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