On my last birthday, Feb. 20, MAGA Mike and Hakeem Jeffries announced the establishment of a bipartisan A.I. task force co-chaired by two California congressmen, Ted Lieu (D) and Jay Obernolte (R) and tasked with making “recommendations for how Congress could boost AI innovation while keeping the tools in check.”
Cristiano Lima-Strong reported that Lieu and Obernolte agreed “that implementing a full response will probably be a lengthy undertaking as they consider the technology’s vast impact across elections, national security, the economy and more.” They were asked to issue a report on their progress by the end of the year. Obernolte: “There should be broad bipartisan agreement that no one should be allowed to impersonate a candidate with AI … so we're going to be looking at what we can do to tighten up the regulations to try and prevent that.” Lieu agreed and added that “One way to provide more deterrence is to say, look, if you use AI to impersonate a voice that defrauds someone, [that] would enhance the punishment that you may get.”
If you’ve been following the debate, you’re probably aware that regulating AI is not just about preventing harm but also about fostering a framework where it can be developed responsibly and ethically to ensure that the benefits are maximized while and the risks minimized. The debate between minimal and more comprehensive regulation highlights the complexity of the issue, but finding a middle ground is crucial for the sustainable development of AI. Instead, Steve Scalise, the GOP majority leader, bigoted right into it this week. Yesterday, Jake Sherman reported the Republicans are against regulating A.I. at all! Scalise told him he “doesn’t believe that Congress should pass any AI-related regulations, establishing a new party position on the most important issue in tech policy. Scalise met with Republicans on the AI task force Thursday. A source in the meeting said House Republicans wouldn’t support legislation that sets up new agencies, establishes new licensing requirements, spends money on research and development or favors one technology over another.
Here’s Scalise in an exclusive interview after the meeting:
“Ultimately, we just want to make sure we don’t have government getting in the way of the innovation that’s happening. That’s allowed America to be dominant in the technology industry, and we want to continue to be able to hold that advantage going forward.
“And if there are gaps in the laws, those are things we’d want to look at. But no new heavy regulations and billions of dollars of government money to do what’s already being done in the private sector. Those aren’t areas we are interested in.”
Of course, there’s a big split here. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) said at a Punchbowl News event Wednesday that Congress needs to move quickly to create new rules for the road for AI.
Scalise, who is effectively charged with developing policy for House Republicans, told us that he thinks the AI sector is thriving because “the government hasn’t figured out how to slow it down.”
So the takeaway here is that if you are looking for Congress to quickly adopt new legislation to regulate AI, you shouldn’t hold your breath as long as House Republicans are in the majority.
Despite Scalise’s laissez-faire attitude, we all already know that AI systems, if not properly managed, can cause significant harm. For example, autonomous vehicles must be safe to avoid accidents, and AI used in healthcare needs stringent checks to prevent misdiagnoses. AI can be targets for cyber-attacks, which can have severe consequences if they control critical infrastructure or sensitive data. We’vealready seen how AI algorithms can inadvertently perpetuate and exacerbate biases present in their training data, leading to unfair treatment of individuals based on race, gender or other characteristics.
Making sure that AI decision-making processes are transparent and understandable is crucial for accountability, especially in critical areas like criminal justice and employment. On top of that, AI can lead to very dangerous changes in the job market, displacing workers in certain sectors. Regulation can help manage the transition by promoting retraining and education programs, something Democrats are pushing and Republicans adamantly oppose. Also, without effective regulation, large companies will absolutely monopolize AI technologies, which will stifle not just competition but also innovation.
Scalise could care less but AI often relies on vast amounts of personal data. Regulations are needed to ensure that this data is used ethically and that individuals' privacy is protected. Clear regulations are necessary to determine who is responsible when an AI system causes harm, whether it be the developers, users, or manufacturers. And then of course is what some non-MAGA politicians really fear most: AI has already generated realistic fake content, which has been used to spread misinformation or manipulate public opinion, particularly in the context of elections.
Scariest to me— and the most difficult to deal with— is how AI could be used in warfare. Regulation is needed to establish norms and prevent an arms race in AI-powered weaponry. At least in theory, international agreements and regulations can help prevent AI technologies from being used in ways that destabilize global peace and security.
I knew just who to ask for a perspective on this. Jerrad is a software engineer in Ohio, running for Congress in a district gradually turning purple from red. His opponent is Troy Balderson, who wouldn’t know what A.I. is if it landed on his head. Jerrad: “These buffoons are dealing with a humanity-altering technology that will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, hack systems, fight wars, maybe cure cancer— and they think it belongs in the world without oversight. Maybe their tunes will change when some tech-bro or 12 year old uses it to infiltrate the systems of the US government and launch nukes like in Wargames. I am beyond confounded how any rational human being could look at the future and not understand that being proactive is the only way to truly solve problems. A system built by MAGA is a system intentionally built to fail and cause harm before we fix it. These people want zero accountability for themselves or anyone else as long as they get a paycheck at the end of the day.”
When the task force was created 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans joined with the job of exploring “how Congress can ensure America continues to lead the world in AI innovation while considering guardrails that may be appropriate to safeguard the nation against current and emerging threats [and ] seek to produce a comprehensive report that will include guiding principles, forward-looking recommendations and bipartisan policy proposals developed in consultation with committees of jurisdiction.” Scalise put the kibosh on that, likely because Trump insisted. These are the members:
Ted Lieu (CA), Co-Chair
Anna Eshoo (CA)
Yvette Clarke (N)
Bill Foster (IL)
Suzanne Bonamici (OR)
Ami Bera (CA)
Don Beyer (VA)
AOC (NY)
Haley Stevens (MI)
Sara Jacobs (CA-)
Valerie Foushee (NC)
Brittany Pettersen (CO)
Jay Obernolte (CA), Chair
Darrell Issa (CA)
French Hill (AR)
Michael Cloud (TX)
Neal Dunn (FL)
Ben Cline (VA)
Kat Cammack (FL)
Scott Franklin (FL)
Michelle Steel (CA)
Eric Burlison (MO)
Laurel Lee (FL)
Rich McCormick (GA)
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