With the 2024 election cycle in full swing, a bipartisan House task force to tackle the emerging challenges of artificial intelligence and its potentially devastating impact on a wide range of issues was announced Saturday. But the focus is not on the 2024 election.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York teamed up to form a task force. Its purpose is to regulate and legislate the use of artificial intelligence.
“To win the future of America’s economy and workers, Congress must develop solutions that can keep up with the rapid technological change already underway with the advent of artificial intelligence. The leadership of Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries. This bipartisan, committee-led task force will build consensus on taking the first steps,” Raj Shah, chief of staff for communications to Speaker Mike Johnson, said in an email Saturday. mentioned in.
But he said in a follow-up text message that the task force would not be primarily focused on the 2024 election, and that it needed to be broad-based to cover all areas affected by AI. emphasized. Shah did not immediately respond to a question about whether the task force would be empowered to make suggestions or recommendations that could impact the use of AI in the 2024 elections. Chairman Jeffreys’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
To stay ahead of AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes in the midst of a politically difficult and polarizing election year, one lawmaker said that before Congress goes into recess in August, AI in elections must be implemented to stay ahead of AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes. He pointed out that it is essential to pass legislation regulating the content generated by the United States.
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“The best case is that we get out first. We can say to candidates, ‘You can’t do that, and if you do, there will be consequences,'” said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia. said in an interview with USA Today on Friday. “The worst-case scenario is that we do nothing and AI-generated false messages become widespread and people end up making misinformed decisions they shouldn’t have made.”
Beyer recently returned to college to earn a master’s degree in AI and machine learning from George Mason University. The ranking House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, he has since become a leading advocate for policies regulating new technologies.
“We don’t know exactly what will happen, but early signs are alarming. Joe Biden’s use of AI-generated audio in New Hampshire was upsetting. “I’m sure President Trump wasn’t thrilled when we generated a photo of Donald Trump and Anthony Fauci together,” Beyer said.
Two bills to regulate the use of AI-generated content in political campaigns were introduced in Congress in 2023, but have stalled. One, introduced in May by Rep. Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.), would expand disclosure requirements for campaign ads to include when AI was used to generate videos or images. . The other, introduced in September and led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., would ban the use of AI in political ads.
Congressional efforts on how to tame AI-generated content have been significantly delayed since President Joe Biden signed an executive order mitigating AI risks to national security and consumer rights. A month later, on January 29, the White House Council on Artificial Intelligence was held.
Before signing the executive order in October 2023, Biden said artificial intelligence was driving change at “warp speed,” with enormous potential and pitfalls.
“AI is all around us, and to realize its potential and avoid its risks, we must manage this technology,” Biden said.
The House special committee is made up of members from both sides of the aisle, 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans with special expertise in emerging technologies, and includes members of jurisdictional committees such as the Energy and Commerce committees. It will be done. Science, space and technology. Oversight and accountability. military and judiciary.
