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Representative Don Beyer thinks artificial intelligence is “the most amazing technology since fire.” So what does it mean that most of Congress seems not to understand it? Then our colleague David McCabe discusses a bill that could dramatically expand the Biden administration’s power to ban TikTok.

Plus: what can the video game character Waluigi tell us about A.I. chatbots gone rogue?

On today’s episode:

• Don Beyer is a U.S. representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.

• David McCabe is a reporter at The New York Times covering technology policy.

Additional reading:

• Lawmakers are trying to understand the technology behind A.I.

• The White House is pushing Congress to regulate TikTok.

• A number of countries are trying to ban TikTok.

• The Waluigi effect is a theory about why chatbots behave erratically.

Credits

“Hard Fork” is hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton and produced by Davis Land. The show is edited by Paula Szuchman and Jen Poyant. Engineering by Alyssa Moxley and original music by Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, Sophia Lanman and Rowan Niemisto. Fact-checking by Caitlin Love.

Special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Pui-Wing Tam, Nell Gallogly, Kate LoPresti and Jeffrey Miranda.