WASHINGTON (AP) – Calling the rapid growth of artificial intelligence tools a “revolutionary moment,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the government will act swiftly to regulate companies developing artificial intelligence tools. said I need to.
The New York Democratic lawmaker said he was working on what he called a “highly ambitious” bipartisan bill to maximize the benefits of technology and mitigate significant risks.
Schumer declined to elaborate on the details of these bills, but they would protect U.S. elections from AI-generated misinformation and interference, protect U.S. workers and intellectual property, and prevent abuse by AI algorithms. , and to build new guardrails to keep bad guys out.
In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, Schumer said the AI legislation should also encourage innovation in the United States.
“If applied correctly, AI promises to change life on earth for the better,” said Schumer. “It will reshape the way we fight disease, fight hunger, manage our lives, enrich our minds and ensure peace. But there are also real dangers: job displacement. , misinformation, a new era of weaponry, and the risk of losing full control over this new technology.”
Schumer’s declaration of urgency comes weeks after scientists and technology industry leaders, including senior executives at Microsoft and Google, warned of the dangers artificial intelligence could pose to humanity.
“Reducing the risk of AI-induced extinction should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” their statement said.
The rise of a new generation of highly capable AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, has raised concerns over the last few months that artificial intelligence systems will outsmart humans. Countries around the world are scrambling to formulate regulations for developing technologies, with the European Union leading the way with an AI law due to be approved later this year.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden convened a group of technology leaders in San Francisco to discuss the “risks and big promises” of artificial intelligence. In May, the administration gathered tech CEOs at the White House to discuss these issues, and the Democratic president told them, “There’s great potential and great danger in what you guys are doing.” I told you.
“The next decade will see even more technological change than we have seen in the last 50 years,” Biden said.
The White House said the office of Chief of Staff Jeff Zientz is developing a set of actions the federal government can take on AI over the next few weeks.
Schumer’s direct involvement in drafting an AI bill is unusual, as Senate leadership typically delegates that task to individual senators and committees. But he has expressed a personal interest in regulating the development of artificial intelligence, with companies already introducing human-like chatbots and other potentially life-changing products as we know them. He argued that regulation was urgent because of the He collaborated with fellow Democrats Sen. Martin Heinrich (New Mexico), Republican Senators Mike Rounds (South Dakota), and Sen. Todd Young (Indiana) to talk to experts and share with colleagues. and draft legislation.
It’s an unexpected role, especially for Mr. Schumer, who famously carries around a low-tech flip phone, and for the Senate as a whole, where the pace of legislation is often slow.
The average age of senators is near retirement age and they are not known to be tech-savvy. In recent years, they have asked basic hearing questions, such as asking Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg during the 2018 hearing on Russian interference, a simple question about how his platform works. It has been ridiculed for its bipartisan reluctance to regulate the tech industry.
Schumer, along with several Republican lawmakers, argue that the federal government can no longer afford to continue its laissez-faire approach to tech companies.
“If the government doesn’t intervene, who will take its place?” Schumer asked. “Individuals and the private sector cannot do the job of defending our country. They do exist, and companies may not be willing to insert guardrails themselves if their competitors are not required to do so as well.”
Attempts to regulate AI “are unlike anything Congress has ever done,” Schumer said.
It is unclear whether Mr. Schumer can meet his goals. The effort is in its early stages, and a bipartisan task force has just started a series of briefings for all 100 senators to get an overview of the situation. In the House, bills to regulate or oversee artificial intelligence are even more fragmented, and the Republican leadership has not set ambitious goals.
Schumer admitted that there are more questions than answers about the technology.
“Congress has a long history that we can work on, unlike labor or health care or defense,” Schumer said. “In fact, experts admit that no one even knows what questions policymakers should ask. In many ways, we are starting from scratch.”
