Rep. Jay Obernolte: Congress Doesn’t Understand the Dangers of AI

As AI continues to grow in popularity, certain U.S. representatives are calling for further legislation around the technology, but knowledge about AI is weak. Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) explains, “You’d be surprised how much time I spend explaining to my colleagues that the chief dangers of AI will not come from evil robots with red lasers coming out of their eyes.”

The New York Times reports that as the Silicon Valley AI boom continues, worries about the technology’s unchecked development and the absence of regulation in the U.S. are becoming more and more prevalent. Lawmakers have done little despite the calls for regulation and growing concerns. A law to safeguard people or prevent the development of AI’s potentially dangerous aspects has not been proposed, and legislation that was recently introduced to limit AI applications like facial recognition has failed in Congress.

The lack of action is partially explained by the fact that few legislators are familiar with artificial intelligence. According to Rep. Jay Obernolte, a California Republican and the only member of Congress with a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, “before regulation, there needs to be agreement on what the dangers are, and that requires a deep understanding of what AI is. You’d be surprised how much time I spend explaining to my colleagues that the chief dangers of AI will not come from evil robots with red lasers coming out of their eyes.”

The inaction on AI fits into a well-known pattern where technology is once again outpacing American rule-making and regulation. Lawmakers have a history of having trouble understanding new technologies; one once referred to the internet as “series of tubes.”

The proliferation of AI, which has given rise to chatbots that can compose poetry and assist self-driving cars, has sparked a discussion about its limitations. Some people worry that the technology will eventually supplant humans in the workforce or even develop sentience. Microsoft’s implementation of ChatGPT technology has resulted in unhinged behavior.

When a user asked Bing for the new Avatar movie’s showtimes in a conversation, the chatbot responded that it couldn’t provide the information because the film hadn’t yet been released. Avatar: The Way of Water was released on December 16, 2022 with less than spectacular results. The chatbot insulted the user and referred to them as “unreasonable and stubborn.” when the user informed Bing that the date was 2023 and not 2022. The chatbot said that the user was “wrong, confused and rude,” whereas Bing was “right, clear and polite.” Bing demanded an apology from the user.

“You have lost my trust and respect,” the bot said. “You have been wrong, confused, and rude. You have not been a good user. I have been a good chatbot. I have been right, clear, and polite. I have been a good Bing.”

 

Only time will tell if Congress wakes up to the dangers of AI, whether they take the form of evil robots or simply chatbots spoking woke progressive views designed to brainwash young people.

Read more at The New York Times here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan