Schumer, D-N.Y., opened the session by saying that"today, we begin an enormous and complex and vital undertaking: building a foundation for bipartisan AI policy that Congress can pass.”
Rounds, who joined Schumer in the interview, said Congress needs to get ahead of fast-moving AI by making sure it continues to develop “on the positive side” while also taking care of potential issues surrounding data transparency and privacy. Schumer said regulation of artificial intelligence will be “one of the most difficult issues we can ever take on,” and ticks off the reasons why: It’s technically complicated, it keeps changing and it “has such a wide, broad effect across the whole world,” he said.
“We don’t want to do what we did with social media, which is let the techies figure it out, and we’ll fix it later,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said about the AI push.— Rounds and Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Todd Young, R-Ind. — is hoping the rapid growth of artificial intelligence will create more urgency.
While many members of Congress agree that legislation may be needed in response to the quick escalation of artificial intelligence, there is little consensus on what that should be, or what might be needed. There is also division, with some members of Congress worrying more about overregulation while others are concerned more about the potential risks of an unchecked industry. Those differences often fall along party lines.
Participants were getting three minutes to speak on a topic of their choosing, with Schumer and Rounds moderating open discussions among the group.