The US Senate AI working group has released a roadmap for AI policy. The group hosted nine bipartisan 'AI Insight Forums' in 2023, covering a range of topics from supporting U.S. innovation in AI, AI and the workforce, high-impact uses of AI, elections and democracy, privacy and liability, transparency, explainability, intellectual property, copyright, safeguarding against AI risks, to national security.
Over 150 individuals attended these forums, including AI developers, deployers, startups, companies, academia, researchers, think tanks, labor unions, and civil rights leaders.
Key points discussed in the forums included:
The potential of AI to significantly impact democratic institutions, with examples of AI being used to influence the electorate through deepfakes and chatbots, and its potential to improve trust in government if used to enhance government services.
The need for a national standard for data privacy protections to provide legal certainty for AI developers and protection for consumers. The "black box" nature of some AI algorithms and the lack of legal clarity makes it difficult to assign liability for any harms.
The role of the federal government in protecting American companies’ and individuals’ IP while supporting innovation. The challenges faced by creators in maintaining their identities and brands in the age of AI due to unauthorized digital replicas were highlighted.
The need for the US to ensure the Department of Defense has sufficient access to AI capabilities to counter countries like China that are heavily investing in commercial AI and aggressively pursuing advances in AI capacity and resources.
