Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday to unveil his new artificial intelligence framework aimed at combating “supercharged disinformation,” the “amplification of bias,” and other perceived potential risks.
Schumer announced his SAFE Innovation Framework, a two-part proposal including a one-page guide detailing the early stages of his central policy objectives as Congress weighs AI regulations.
The senator described AI as a “world-altering” “revolution” and stressed the importance of government intervention to avoid potential dangers.
The framework’s “north star” is innovation, Schumer claimed, attempting to address concerns that heavy regulatory intervention could suppress AI’s potential.
“In short: the first issue we must tackle is encouraging, not stifling, innovation,” Schumer stated. “But if people don’t think innovation can be done safely, that will slow AI’s development and even prevent us from moving forward. So my SAFE Innovation framework calls for Security, Accountability, protecting our Foundations, and, lastly, Explainability, one of the most important and most difficult technical issues in all of AI.”
The proposed framework emphasizes the importance of ensuring creative innovation while addressing concerns including job loss, “misinformation and bias.”
“Already, breakthroughs are happening all around us, from helping develop incredible new materials to synthesizing life-saving medications. But this potential for societal benefits comes with the risk of societal harms: significant job displacement, misuse by our adversaries and other bad actors, supercharged disinformation, and the amplification of bias are among the pressing concerns,” the framework’s one-pager stated.
Schumer stressed that Congress is racing against to clock to prevent “the Chinese Government from writing the rules of the road on AI.”
“With so much potential, the U.S. must lead in innovation and write the rules of the road on AI and not let adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party craft the standards for a technology set to become as transformative as electricity,” the framework stated.
He said lawmakers would continue to consult with industry leaders as they come together to draft legislative regulatory proposals.
“These policy objectives are at the center of my work on AI, but this is not a comprehensive list of the multitude of opportunities and challenges we face,” Schumer’s framework reads. “To address the spectrum of AI topics, I have convened an all-hands-on-deck effort in the Senate, with committees developing bipartisan legislation, and a bipartisan gang of non-committee chairs working to further develop the Senate’s policy response. We must approach AI with the urgency and humility it deserves.”
On the other side of the aisle, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) convened with two AI experts earlier this year to discuss the topic.
The Biden administration has also prioritized understanding potential AI risks as the technology rapidly evolves. Biden met with industry leaders in California earlier this week to discuss AI’s potential impacts on “bias and prejudice,” as well as several other perceived risks.
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