Bipartisan roadmap for AI regulation leaves a lot of unanswered questions

WASHINGTON (TND) — A long-awaited legislative roadmap to regulate artificial intelligence was unveiled this week after months of talks and research about what steps Congress needs to take to keep the rapidly advancing technology in check while protecting America’s place as a world leader in its development.

A bipartisan group of senators that includes Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released their 31-page roadmap on Wednesday, proposing an annual $32 billion investment from Congress and laying out varying amounts of details on how to deal with some of the issues lawmakers are facing when it comes to AI regulation.

Congress is facing immense pressure to act on artificial intelligence before it is too late and get some legislation signed into law, unlike what has played out with social media where despite public pressure and bipartisan interest in new laws, nothing of significance has passed.

The U.S. is well behind in instituting AI regulations compared to the European Union, which has already passed a wide-ranging plan setting limits on the tech and regulating its development and further added pressure on Congress to act. Schumer said he was hopeful some AI bills could pass this year despite it being a presidential election year and Congress not having any must-pass bills to tack AI policy onto until the fall.

“They've been there a broken record since at least 2016 about social media regulation, if not earlier. And when you cry wolf for going on 10 years about technology regulation, people stopped believing you,” said Matt Mittelsteadt, a research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. “That's exactly where Congress is, and I think the most likely thing that we can expect is nothing.

The roadmap’s release comes as the companies leading the charge with new innovations continue steaming ahead. Google and OpenAI both released new updates on their generative AI tools earlier this week with more advanced capabilities that have raised concerns from consumer safety advocates.

“No technology offers more promise to our modern world than artificial intelligence. But AI also presents a host of new policy challenges. Harnessing the potential of AI demands an all-hands-on-deck approach and that’s exactly what our bipartisan AI working group has been leading,” Schumer said.

Maintaining America’s spot as a global leader in AI is one of the primary goals and challenges facing the roadmap. The negotiators have laid out an initial request for $32 billion in non-defense spending on artificial intelligence, which comes in addition to significant investments already being made by private companies.

“This roadmap to the future of AI sets the stage as we seek to harness its power to bring greater prosperity to the American people while also mitigating potential long-term risks,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

The group’s roadmap does not include an all-encompassing piece of legislation, instead delegating dealing with various issues connected to AI to congressional committees. Included in the rollout was a specific federal funding number tied to agencies and initiatives. There are some bills already up for consideration or being voted on in committees, but they all differ in their pace and disagreements linger between the two chambers that are controlled by opposite parties.

Some issues have more specific ideas for legislation while others are vague, highlighting the disagreements between the two parties on what approach to take legislating them. Two issues that the roadmap highlights as important to addressing without offering specifics are data privacy and election protections.

AI’s potential dangers to elections has been one of the most high-profile issues, with AI-generated advertisements, videos and pictures already making rounds online. There have also been concerns AI could help power a foreign adversary’s efforts to interfere with elections, which comes in a year where people around the world are preparing to cast a vote.

America got its first taste of the issue earlier this year with an AI-generated robocall imitating President Joe Biden’s voice telling people not to vote in New Hampshire’s primary election.

Several proposals on revamping data privacy laws have been made amid breaches at private companies, concerns about how tech companies are leveraging consumer data and potential issues with foreign adversaries being able to get access to it.

In addition to the quick advances being made in the field, Congress is also trying to strike a balance between regulation and innovation for an industry that could reshape the economy and push it into the future. There is still a lot about the future of regulation that is to be determined, but observers see lawmakers trying to find that balance instead of focusing on the most dire dangers AI could represent.

“We have to wait and see what bills and roles are proposed based off of a lot of this but a lot of it is indeed promising. There's a strong emphasis on R&D, there's a strong emphasis on regulatory clarity, for example, and making sure that our existing laws are clear so that we can ensure easy, confident adoption of these technologies. There was clearly a thoughtfulness that went into this,” Mittelsteadt said.

Tech groups were mostly supportive of the roadmap and have been involved in many of the discussions with lawmakers. Multiple committees have held public hearings involving business leaders and academics as they try to get a handle on the challenge they are facing when it comes to regulating a rapidly advancing technology.

TechNet, an industry group that includes OpenAI, Google and Meta, said the plans would address all the potential problems with AI head-on and maintain America’s place as a global leader.

“The U.S. must be the global leader in AI investment, development, and deployment to ensure it is implemented safely across the world. The Senate’s AI Roadmap will strengthen America’s global competitiveness in AI and emerging technologies,” the group said in a statement.

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