On November 19, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held its last major hearing on artificial intelligence this year. The topic this time was protecting consumers from fraud and fraud using artificial intelligence (AI). The importance of getting AI policy right was clear in the committee room.
At the beginning of the hearing, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Wash.), chairman of the Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security Subcommittee, quipped: In the future too. ”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the ranking member of the subcommittee, followed up on the chair’s remarks with a similarly uneasy outlook on the direction of AI. The senator said there is “the good, the bad, and the ugly of AI” in his home state.
Artificial intelligence, and more recently generative AI (often shortened to GenAI), continues to be incorporated into everyday consumer technologies such as smartphones and web-based search engines such as Google and Bing. AI and GenAI are also beginning to be incorporated into many sectors of the economy, from predictive diagnostics in healthcare to fraud detection in the consumer finance industry.
Congress believes that this emerging technology has the economic potential to drive the U.S. economy for years to come, while also presenting a range of new security challenges and social impacts similar to the rise of social media. There is a growing belief that this may be the case. The dawn of the Internet completely changed life in the 21st century.
So what has the Legislature been doing so far and what are the county’s priorities?
The topics of the hearings on Capitol Hill range from protecting the nation’s elections from disinformation fueled by GenAI to protecting consumer data privacy rights and ensuring transparency in AI models.
Both chambers also have their own AI working groups: the U.S. House of Representatives has its own Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), and the Senate has its own AI working group. There is an AI working group. AI Working Group led by Senator Martin Heinrich (DN.M.) and Senator Mike Rounds (RS.D.).
Meanwhile, full passage of legislation related to AI and GenAI is limited by the 118th Congress. Although Congress has authored more than 120 bills related to AI and GenAI, only a limited number have passed sufficient hurdles to have a chance of being fully passed and placed on the president’s desk. There are only a few.
Throughout the fall, House and Senate leaders debated an agreement to pass AI legislation alongside mandatory legislation at the end of the year. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) have both added AI-related bills related to research and development and other key initiatives to their year-end must-pass bills. He indicated his intention to do so. , upcoming spending agreements and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
However, by the first week of December, negotiations reportedly broke down, with key lawmakers citing the dynamics of the upcoming 119th Congress and the new administration as grounds for continuing negotiations on the future of AI policy and regulation. This is because the decision was made. .
Many bills that passed out of committee and were awaiting broader passage in the House and Senate may have to wait until the next Congress, including the bipartisan National Science Foundation AI Education Act and the Small Business Artificial Intelligence Training Act. There is. .
However, incremental progress requires celebration.
On December 4, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Take It Down Act, which makes it a crime to create and distribute digitally created intimate images of individuals without their consent. The bill was sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), and NACo is listed as a sponsor. The bill currently awaits full consideration in the House of Representatives.
So where does the county fit into the puzzle as Congress continues to deliberate on its path forward?
As this new technology continues to emerge as a driver of utility and economic competitiveness that dramatically simplifies daily operations, counties are exploring the application of AI and GenAI to county operations and services.
The NACo Artificial Intelligence Research Commission, launched in May 2023 to explore the technology behind AI and GenAI and its potential in local government, will launch a new study this year to provide education and best practices to counties across the country. First, we debuted AI County Compass. Leveraging these insights, counties are at the forefront of collaborating with federal partners on a government-to-government basis to better understand emerging technologies and their impact on government operations and services.
This month, NACo announced the county’s major artificial intelligence (AI) policies for the 119th Congress, consisting of policy priorities voted on and passed by NACo full members at the 2024 Annual Conference in Hillsborough County, Florida. He also announced his priorities.
NACo’s key AI policy priorities include:
Establishing a dedicated Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) to establish an intergovernmental governance structure to address the varying uses of GenAI across different sectors, and direct funding to foster digital literacy and workforce development We provide.
Additionally, NACo supports legislation for a national AI education campaign focused on risk management, consumer education, and workforce training.
The County is committed to working with the new administration and Congress to advance these policy priorities on a bipartisan basis. Key initiatives to monitor in the new year involve energy reform and data center land use, additional AI research and development for key government use cases, and the continued integration of technology into consumer products and services.
It remains to be seen how the new Congress will ultimately approach AI and GenAI policy, but the intent is clear. Technology isn’t going away.
