I have been impressed with the seriousness with which the United States Senate is taking technological advances in generative artificial intelligence. If you want evidence that elected leaders are able to work together to address the challenges and opportunities facing our nation, then you would do well to start by examining the work that senators Todd Young (R., Ind.), Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), Mike Rounds (R., S.D.), and Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.) have done on AI. I’ve worked the most with Senator Young — whose leadership I greatly admire on this and many issues — and his staff.
Today, the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group — composed of those four senators — released a roadmap for AI policy. From the press release:
Today, after months of discussion, hundreds of stakeholder meetings, and nine first-of-their-kind, all-Senator AI Insight Forums, the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group . . . released an AI policy roadmap that summarizes their findings and lays out policy topics that the group believes merit bipartisan committee consideration in the 118th Congress and beyond.
“The rapid pace of AI innovation brought this bipartisan working group together to consider how policymakers can ensure the incredible and promising aspects of AI are able to flourish while guarding against its risks,” said Senator Young. “This roadmap represents the most comprehensive and impactful bipartisan recommendations on artificial intelligence ever issued by the legislative branch. Our goal is to ensure the United States maintains its leadership in AI innovation, enabling the American people to reap the substantial national security, economic, and societal benefits of an AI-driven future. . . .”
“In the midst of rapid AI advancements, the Senate can lead or be led. We plan to lead, to deliver for the American people, helping ensure that AI comes as a benefit to society, not a threat,” said Senator Heinrich. “This roadmap positions us to unlock AI innovation that will deliver major scientific and medical advancements and help maintain our global leadership. Most importantly, the roadmap lays out the guardrails necessary to mitigate the risks of AI — from blocking corporations from trying to use American’s data against them, to safeguarding the work of creative professionals and protecting workers’ jobs by preventing the automation of tasks that only should be done by humans. Now it’s time for the Senate to act on these recommendations.”
A one-pager detailing the roadmap can be found here. The AI policy roadmap for the 118th Congress can be found here.
I participated in one of the nine Insight Forums and thought it was terrific. The Senate should consider adopting similar forums for other policies issues as a compliment to — or even as a substitute for — standard committee hearings. Notably, the forums were closed to the press (with press conferences after) and were very well attended by senators and staff. The discussion was candid and cordial, and featured a true exchange of expert views.
There is a lot to support in the roadmap, and there are some points the roadmap emphasizes that I would not. The Senate is at the beginning of thinking about its response to AI. The Senate is not alone in this, of course — businesses leaders, economists, technologists, and many others are also at an early stage. We are in the early innings of the AI revolution. The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group’s roadmap is a great place for the Senate, and the nation, to start.