US senator introduces bill targeting AI’s shortfalls

SENATOR Michael Bennet introduced a bill on Thursday (Apr 27) that would create a task force to look at US policies on artificial intelligence (AI), and identify how best to reduce threats to privacy, civil liberties and due process.

The popular use of ChatGPT and other AI, which have been used for years to create text, imagery and other content, has sparked a rush around the globe to figure out if and how it should be regulated.

In Washington, national security experts have fretted about its use by foreign adversaries, and teachers have complained about it being used to cheat.

The job of the AI Task Force, which could include cabinet members, will be to identify shortfalls in regulatory oversight of AI and recommend reforms, if needed.

“There’s going to have to be a lot of education around this set of issues because they’re not well understood,” said Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado. “There’s going to be a lot of improvisation and iterative approaches to try to wrestle with this because AI is so new to everyone in the government.”

Under the bill, the task force would include an official from the Office of Management and Budget, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Office of Science and Technology Policy as well as privacy and civil liberties officers from the Departments of Justice, State, Treasury, Defense and other executive branch agencies.

Under the terms of the bill, the task force would work for 18 months, issue a final report and then shut down.REUTERS