At Senate hearing, lawmakers zero in on federal AI research goals, risks
FedScoopSep 07, 2023
Congress is this week holding three hearings on the regulation of artificial intelligence, with top industry executives and experts set to attend.
The first hearing — titled "Oversight of AI: Legislating on Artificial Intelligence" — took place Tuesday and was headed by senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley, who lead the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. The hearing will be the subcommittee's third this year about AI regulation.
Keeping society safe from the dangers of AI will require legislation. These hearings and meetings between lawmakers and tech industry professionals are crucial to keeping the public safe from the harms of AI. This technology, while exciting, has the possibility to cause great harm, and safeguards must be put in place to mitigate disaster and regulate this powerful innovation.
While safeguards should be put in place to ensure AI technology is not used for nefarious purposes, government regulation of the technology could stifle creativity and innovation. It is also unclear how any government oversight body could possibly have the broad range of technical and legal knowledge required to oversee the use of AI technology in a plethora of sectors. This topic is going to need extensive discussion and research before any sort of legislation should be passed.
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