House leadership forms bipartisan task force to tackle rise of artificial intelligence
House Leadership from both sides of the aisle unveiled a new bipartisan task force Tuesday dedicated to tackling the breakneck rise of artificial intelligence.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced a 24-member panel that will craft a comprehensive report on potential guardrails for the nascent technology as well as policy steps Congress can take to ensure the US remains a global leader with AI.
“Because advancements in artificial intelligence have the potential to rapidly transform our economy and our society, it is important for Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to understand and plan for both the promises and the complexities of this transformative technology,” Johnson said.
The newly minted Task Force on Artificial Intelligence will be led by Chairs Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) Both Johnson and Jeffries tapped 12 members from their conference for the panel.
Obernolte has a master’s degree in AI under his belt and owns the video game company FarSight Studios. Lieu worked on legislation to regulate AI. In fact, he wrote one bill to do that via ChatGPT last year.
The duo have emerged as leading voices in the lower chamber on AI.
“Congress has a responsibility to facilitate the promising breakthroughs that artificial intelligence can bring to fruition and ensure that everyday Americans benefit from these advancements in an equitable manner,” Jeffries said.
Republican Reps. on the panel include Ben Cline from Virginia; French Hill from Arkansas; Michael Cloud from Texas; Eric Burlison from Missouri; Rich McCormick of Georgia; Neal Dunn, Kat Cammack, Scott Franklin and Laurel Lee, all from Florida; as well as Reps. Darrell Issa and Michelle Steel, both from California.
Democrat Reps. on the panel include Bill Foster from Illinois; Brittany Pettersen from Colorado; Haley Stevens from Michigan; Suzanne Bonamici from Oregon; Valerie Foushee from North Carolina; Don Beyer from Virginia; Yvette Clarke and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both from New York; as well as Anna Eshoo, Ami Bera and Sara Jacobs, all from California.
Legislative endeavors to address the rapidly advancing technology have largely stalled out in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has shown a keen interest in moving the needle forward on the issue.
President Biden has already taken a handful of executive actions in order to usher in the AI era. Last year, Vice President Kamala Harris met with European leaders to discuss AI policy.
Over recent years, the tech sector has seen an explosion of generative AI, which can produce text, photos, and other media when given open-ended instructions.
Although the technology is far from flawless and known to malfunction, it has sparked fears that a vast swath of jobs could become obsolete in the future due to its widespread use.
OpenAI sparked a frenzy in late 2022 with ChatGPT, which uses an advanced language model to respond to open-ended requests and write context.
Recently, the AI startup teased its Dora AI program, which can create photorealistic videos in response to simple text prompts from users.
The technology is already wreaking havoc on the campaign trail.
Last month, bogus robocalls forged Biden’s voice and attempted to dissuade voters from backing him in New Hampshire.
The Federal Communications Commission ruled this month that AI-generated clone voices are prohibited.
