In a new episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast, host Tammy Haddad interviewed Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), vice chair of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus, and Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
Obernolte and Mullin expressed both optimism and concern surrounding AI, citing its promise to revolutionize industries and sharing fear of its implications for democracy, including AI’s role in the spread of misinformation and the impact on elections.
“I’m a huge AI optimist,” said Obernolte. “I think AI has the potential to be that next big catalyst that expands the productivity of our workforce and that will lead to not just growth of GDP, but a wave of prosperity that lifts all the boats in America.”
“I am energized by what this can mean, yet I’m also concerned about our democracy,” said Mullin. “And 88 elections across the world in 2024. And bad actors wanting to manipulate the outcomes of those elections in democracies, that may not be up to speed in terms of their regulatory framework. So, huge issues for our democracies, not only here, but around the world.”
The congressmen called for regulatory framework to address everything from deep fakes to derivative information utilized by AI companies, and weighed in on the copyright infringement lawsuit the New York Times has filed against ChatGPT and other AI platforms.
“When I think about what Congress needs to do to create a regulatory framework for AI, this is one of the major pillars, I think, that we have an obligation to step in on,” said Obernolte. “This question of copyright infringement, this question of fair use … how much do you have to alter the input before it’s no longer a derivative work … when AI creates it? The problem right now is that we’re seeing these lawsuits that are being brought forward, and justifiably so, by content creators that say, that’s not okay, the New York Times lawsuit’s a great example.”
“It’s going to require a lot of work. If you rank all the things that we have to do in Congress, the different aspects of AI we have to regulate, this is one of the most complicated and will be one of the most controversial, and yet, it has to be done,” he added.”
“We have to create a regulatory framework … that can be adapted to the new uses and the future uses of AI,” said Mullin. “We are at the inception here. This feels to me like the beginning of the internet, when people were just trying to figure out ‘what is this going to mean’?”
Obernolte, a computer who has written millions of lines of code, argued against the idea of watermarking AI-generated content, suggesting the strategy is “very misleading because … everyone will follow the law except for the malicious actors who really, really want to deceive people.” Instead, the congressman called for watermarking authentic content.
And Obernolte weighed in on President Biden’s AI Executive Order, saying “If I had to criticize part of the EO, what I would say is, it attempted to step into the role of Congress and to evoke the Defense Production Act to require some reporting by private industry on the use of AI.”
“And I’m actually not even saying that that’s a bad idea,” continued Obernolte.
I’m just saying that the executive branch does not have the authority to do that under the Constitution. And so, I think if they were to try to do that, they would be subject to some legal challenges and they would probably lose. But that’s something that, you know, we are behind in Congress. We need to, to take up the mantle to, uh, to craft this regulatory framework and get it passed, which will be good for everyone because everyone will know what the rules are.”
Haddad also spoke with Miriam Vogel, president and CEO of EqualAI and chair of the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC), who shared a recap of discussions about artificial intelligence at the 2024 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. “It was all AI, all the time,” said Vogel.
The interviews were conducted in front of a live audience during a “Cocktails and Conversation” reception entitled “The Path Forward: AI Legislation.”