○On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries launched a bipartisan task force on artificial intelligence.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, and Jeffries, a New York Democrat, each appointed 12 members to the task force, which will be chaired by Rep. Jay Obanolte, a California Republican. Representative Ted Lieu, Democrat of California, will serve as co-chair. The task force will “produce a comprehensive report that includes guiding principles, forward-looking recommendations, and bipartisan policy recommendations developed in consultation with jurisdictional committees,” according to the announcement.
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Obanorte, who holds a master's degree in AI from the University of California, Los Angeles and founded the video game company FarSight Studios, and Liu, who studied computer science and political science at Stanford University, were natural choices to lead the task force. is. However, many of our members also have expertise in AI. Rep. Bill Foster, a Democrat from Illinois, told TIME that he earned a doctorate in physics and programmed neural networks in the 1990s. I work in a particle accelerator. Other members have introduced AI-related bills and held public hearings on AI policy issues. And Congressman Don Beyer, a 73-year-old Democrat from Virginia, is pursuing a master's degree in machine learning from George Mason University in parallel with his congressional duties.
Since OpenAI released its wildly popular ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022, lawmakers around the world have scrambled to understand the social impact of AI. At the White House, the Biden administration will issue a comprehensive executive order in October 2023 aimed at ensuring the United States benefits from AI while mitigating the risks associated with AI technology. I've done everything I can. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the regulatory framework in June 2023 and has since held closed-door meetings with lawmakers, experts and industry executives. Many senators are holding their own hearings, proposing alternative regulatory frameworks, and introducing bills to regulate AI.
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However, the House of Representatives is lagging behind, due in part to the turmoil that followed the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the fall. This special committee represents the most significant AI regulatory step yet in the House of Representatives. Given that AI legislation requires approval from both chambers of Congress, the task force's report could shape the future AI law agenda. Time magazine spoke to eight members of the task force to understand their priorities.
different perspectives
Each member has a slightly different focus, depending on their background before entering politics and the various committees they serve on.
“We recognize that when used responsibly, AI has the potential to increase the efficiency of patient care, improve health outcomes, and reduce costs,” California Democratic Congressman Ami Berra said in an e-mail. he told TIME in an emailed statement. He trained as an internist, taught at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, and served as Sacramento County's chief medical officer before entering politics in 2013.
Meanwhile, Colorado Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen is focused on the impact of AI on the banking system. “As artificial intelligence advances rapidly and becomes more widely available, it has the potential to impact everything from election systems using deepfakes to banking fraud through high-tech fraud. Policies must be maintained to ensure we continue to lead in this area while protecting our financial system and our nation as a whole,” said the House Financial Services Bipartisan Task Force on AI. Pettersson, a member of the bill who introduced the bill last year, said in an emailed statement to address AI-powered bank fraud.
The fact that members have different focuses and serve on different committees is partly a design choice, suggested Foster, an Illinois Democrat. “At one point, I counted seven committees in Congress that claimed to do some part of information technology. I mean, we don't have any committees…because we don't have a “We don’t have people who are focusing their staff full-time on information technology,” he says. The committee hopes it may allow the House to “really move the ball forward” on policy issues that cross the committee's jurisdiction.
Common concerns
While some issues may be unique to certain members, others are common concerns. All eight members of the task force TIME spoke to expressed concerns about AI-generated deepfakes and their potential impact on elections.
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No other issue attracted such unanimous attention, but many themes were reiterated. The impact of AI-powered recruitment software and automation on the workforce, algorithmic bias, AI in healthcare, data protection and privacy – all these issues were raised by multiple members of the task force in conversations with TIME. Ta.
Another topic brought up by several members was the CREATE AI Act, a bill that would establish the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) to provide researchers with the tools they need to conduct cutting-edge research. The NAIRR pilot was recently launched by the National Science Foundation, at the direction of President Biden in his AI Executive Order.
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Democratic Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan emphasized the importance of maintaining technological superiority over China. “Frankly, I would like to see the United States join Western countries in using artificial intelligence to set the rules of the road rather than the Chinese Communist Party,” she said. Representative Scott Franklin, a Republican from Florida, agreed, saying that preventing industrial espionage is especially important. “We are devoting significant resources and investing in this challenge, and we need to make sure that our intellectual property is protected,” he said.
Both Franklin and Beyer said the task force should focus some of its energy on considering the existential risks of future powerful AI systems. “As long as there are really thoughtful people like Dr. Hinton and others who are concerned about the existential risks of artificial intelligence, the end of humanity, I don't think we can afford to ignore that,” Beyer said. Ta. “Even if it's a 1 in 1000 chance, it's going to happen 1 in 1000. You see that all the time with hurricanes and storms.”
Other members are not so worried. “If you get governance right for the little things, you can protect against the big risks,” said Democratic Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs of California. “And I think that by focusing so much on the big risks, we're actually overlooking the harms and risks that are already being caused by this technology.”
bipartisan optimism
The task force has not yet met and none of its members could say when the report will be released, but they hope their efforts will become federal law before the presidential election takes over Washington. We need to act quickly to have any hope of connection.
State lawmakers aren't waiting for Congress to act. Earlier this month, Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County in the California State Senate, introduced a bill to make powerful AI systems safer, including by requiring safety testing. “I would love to have a single, uniform federal law that effectively addresses AI safety issues,” Weiner said in a recent interview with NPR. “Congress has not passed such a law. Congress has not come close to passing such a law.”
But many task force members argued that while partisan gridlock has made it difficult to pass legislation in the House in recent months, AI may be the only area where Congress can find common ground.
“I've talked about this with many colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” said Franklin, a Florida Republican. “We've all been at the same place and we understand the seriousness of the problem. We may disagree on exactly how to deal with it. [the issues]. That's why we need to get together and have this conversation. ”
“The fact that it's bipartisan and bicameral makes me very optimistic that we'll be able to get meaningful work done this year,” said Beyer, a Virginia Democrat. “I put it on Joe Biden’s desk.”