WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of four senators led by Majority Leader Charles Schumer is recommending that Congress spend at least $32 billion over the next three years on the development of and safeguards around artificial intelligence. In a report released Wednesday, the U.S. needs to take the following steps: “Taking advantage of opportunities and addressing risks” of rapidly evolving technology.
The group, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, said in an interview Tuesday that while they disagree about the best path forward, they believe the technology will spread and other countries, such as China, are investing heavily in its development. He said he felt it was essential to find an agreement, given the current situation. They agreed to a number of broad policy recommendations contained in the 33-page report.
Passing AI legislation will be difficult, especially in an election year and a divided Congress, but regulations and incentives for innovation are urgently needed, the senators said.
“It’s complicated, it’s difficult, but we can’t just butt our heads in it,” said the group, who convened the group after the AI chatbot ChatGPT entered the market last year and said it is possible in many areas. said Schumer of New York. How to imitate human behavior.
The group said in its report that Congress should draft an emergency spending bill to boost U.S. investment in artificial intelligence, including new research and development and new testing standards to understand the technology’s potential harms. We recommend that you do so. The group also recommended new requirements for transparency as artificial intelligence products are rolled out, and research into the potential impact of AI on jobs and the U.S. workforce.
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, a member of the group, said the money will be used not only to compete with other countries competing in the AI field, but also to improve the quality of life for Americans by providing technology that can help with treatments. He said that it would also be effectively used to provide support. Improvements in some cancers, chronic diseases or weapons systems could help the country avoid war, he said.
“This is a time when the money we put into this particular investment will pay dividends to the taxpayers of this country over the long term,” he said.
The group said Mr. Schumer has made the issue a priority, an unusual move for a majority leader, and includes Sens. Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana and South Dakota. It was formed a year ago with Rounds and others.
As the four senators begin meeting with technology executives and experts, Schumer said in a summer speech that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence tools is a “revolutionary moment” and that the government should develop them. He said there is a need to act quickly to regulate companies that do so.
Young said the development of ChatGPT and other similar models made him realize that “we have to think collectively as an institution” about how to address this technology.
“At the same time that people marveled at the potential of a single generative AI platform, they began to hypothesize about the possible future risks associated with future developments in artificial intelligence,” Young said.
Although legislation will be difficult to pass, the group’s recommendations provide the first comprehensive roadmap for an issue that is complex and has little precedent for consideration in Congress. The group spent nearly a year developing its list of policy proposals after engaging in internal and external conversations with a variety of technology companies and other stakeholders, including eight forums to which the full Senate was invited.
The first forum in September included X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
After the closed-door meeting, Schumer asked everyone in the room, including about 20 technology executives, advocates and skeptics, whether the government should have a role in overseeing artificial intelligence. “I raised it,” he said. ”
Still, the tech industry has mixed opinions about the future of AI. Musk expressed serious concerns, reminiscent of popular science fiction, about the possibility that humanity could lose control of advanced AI systems if proper safeguards are not put in place. And how the proposed regulations will affect your business, from potential government surveillance of the most capable AI systems to the tracking of AI computer chips that are in high demand for national security. Some companies are concerned about the details of how they might be affected.
The four senators have submitted their recommendations to a Senate committee that is tasked with considering them and figuring out what is possible. The Senate Rules Committee is already moving ahead with legislation, including one on Wednesday that would ban deceptive AI content used to influence federal elections, require AI disclaimers in political ads, and allow candidates to The state has approved three bills that would create voluntary guidelines for state election officials, which oversee elections.
Information for this article was contributed by Dan Merica of The Associated Press.
File – OpenAI’s ChatGPT app appears on iPhone in New York (May 18, 2023). While the use of AI in U.S. businesses is still relatively small, it is growing rapidly in information technology and professional services companies in states such as Colorado. A new paper by researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau says the District of Columbia is leading the way. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Google I/O event on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)