Federal prosecutors will pursue tougher sentences in cases in which artificial intelligence is used to commit an election-related crime, including threatening violence against election workers and voter suppression, Deputy US Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Monday.

The Justice Department policy change is an effort to keep pace with a chaotic information environment ahead of the 2024 presidential election, as AI tools have made it much easier to mimic politicians’ voices and likenesses to spread false information. The new policy applies to cases in which AI makes the election-related crime “more dangerous and more impactful,” Monaco said.

“Our democratic process and the public servants who protect it have been under attack like never before as threats evolve and spread,” Monaco told a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force on Monday afternoon. AI and other advances in technology are “emboldening those threatening election workers and the integrity of our elections,” she said.