Lawmakers propose 'blue-ribbon' AI commission |  Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) is proposing creating a "blue-ribbon commission" to help regulate artificial intelligence. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) | | | A bipartisan group of lawmakers are backing creating a federal commission to develop a strategy for regulating artificial intelligence, the latest addition to a growing crop of legislative proposals tackling new AI tools like ChatGPT. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) on Tuesday are introducing a bill that would require Congress and the White House to appoint 20 people across government, industry, civil society and the computer science field to an AI commission. The group would issue three reports over two years to policymakers with recommendations for "mitigating the risks and possible harms" of AI while "protecting" U.S. tech innovation. Lieu said in an interview that the "blue-ribbon commission" would give policymakers breathing room to understand what impact generative AI tools like ChatGPT will have on society and to receive input on what response may be needed before acting. "It can be disruptive to society, from the arts to medicine to architecture to so many different fields, and it could also potentially harm us and that's why I think we need to take a somewhat different approach," he told me on Monday. Under the bill, appointments to the commission would be split evenly between Democrats and Republicans "to ensure bipartisanship." The president would appoint 8 commissioners, while party leaders from both the House and Senate would collectively tap the other 12. Members would need to have a background in government, industry, civil society or in computer science, but none of those groups would be allowed to make up a majority of the group. | | Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) is co-sponsoring the bill and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is expected to introduce a Senate counterpart, Lieu spokeswoman Jenna Bushnell said. Lieu said that while creating a commission would not preclude Congress from stepping in before receiving any recommendations, it would be "prudent" for lawmakers to hold off on "overarching legislation" until the group could weigh in. "I just think we need some experts to inform us and just have a little bit of time pass before we put something massive into law," said Lieu, one of a handful of lawmakers on Capitol Hill with a computer science background. Lieu first teased the idea in a January op-ed. In the meantime, Lieu said, Congress could legislate in "discrete areas," such as in national security. Lieu, Buck and other lawmakers recently introduced legislation to prevent AI systems from controlling the launch of nuclear weapons without "meaningful human control." Lawmakers previously introduced a flurry of bills to set privacy guardrails for AI tools, to require companies to vet their algorithms for biases and to create new regulatory agencies or departments to oversee digital services, but most have not passed. But legislative efforts are gaining new life this year as scrutiny mounts in Washington about the rising popularity of AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Bard. The surge in AI interest has triggered a wave of hearings, briefings and meetings on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have tapped a wave of academics and industry leaders to help get them up to speed on the tools, as my colleague Cat Zakrzewski and I reported over the weekend. Lieu, one of dozens of lawmakers who attended a private dinner with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last month ahead of his congressional testimony, said it was clear that night that "a number of members of Congress had never seen generative AI before." "Before we rush into any sort of massive congressional bill, I think it's important that we give members of Congress the opportunity to learn about this very complicated subject," said Lieu. But Lieu said it's unreasonable to expect most of Congress to develop a deep technical understanding of AI to be able to legislate, as some industry leaders have suggested. | | "Members of the Congress do deal with hundreds of different issues of which we're not experts on … You don't have to know exactly how AI algorithms work, but I think it's important to understand the output of these algorithms and what they potentially could do," he said. | | |  | Our top tabs | | Biden to hold meeting with AI experts, researchers in San Francisco |  AI is a top priority for President Biden and his team, an official said. (Evan Vucci/AP) | | | President Biden on Tuesday will meet with artificial intelligence experts and researchers in San Francisco to discuss the emerging technology's opportunities and risks, according to a White House official. "AI is a top priority for the president and his team. Generative AI tools have increased significantly in the past several months and we don't want to solve yesterday's problem," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide details about the meeting. Expected participants include Center for Humane Technology executive director and co-founder Tristan Harris, Common Sense Media founder and CEO Jim Steyer, Algorithmic Justice League founder Joy Buolamwini and Khan Academy CEO and founder Sal Khan. The invited experts "include those who have been outspoken on the impact of AI on jobs, children, bias and prejudice, the risks posed by AI if it isn't properly regulated, and also those who understand the benefits it provides for education and medicine if this technology is built safely from the start," the official said. The meeting comes as Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is expected to unveil a congressional AI regulation framework on Wednesday. Lawmakers have sat in briefings about the technology, hoping to wrap their heads around the subject as AI regulation efforts advance overseas. | AI-generated child sexual exploitation content fuels investigator concerns |  Child-safety investigators fear the content will undermine efforts to locate victims and combat real-world abuse. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News) | | | AI-generated child sexual exploitation content is concerning child-safety investigators who fear that it will undermine efforts to locate victims and combat real-world abuse, our colleague Drew Harwell reports. "Generative-AI tools have set off what one analyst called a 'predatory arms race' on pedophile forums because they can create within seconds realistic images of children performing sex acts, commonly known as child pornography," Drew writes, adding that thousands of AI-generated images have been found across online dark web forums. "Children's images, including the content of known victims, are being repurposed for this really evil output," said Rebecca Portnoff, data science director at nonprofit child safety group Thorn, which has detected month-over-month growth of such material. Drew's report adds: "The flood of images could confound the central tracking system built to block such material from the web because it is designed only to catch known images of abuse, not detect newly generated ones. It also threatens to overwhelm law enforcement officials who work to identify victimized children and will be forced to spend time determining whether the images are real or fake." | Judge to decide if Biden administration censored social media users |  The judge permitted the plaintiffs to depose government officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (Patrick Semansky/AP) | | | A federal judge in Louisiana will decide whether the Biden White House's efforts to clamp down on social media disinformation crossed the line into censorship, Jacob Gershman reports for the Wall Street Journal. Missouri v. Biden is a major First Amendment battle pending in U.S. courts because it tests the government's ability to police social media content and "has advanced further than any other of its kind," the report notes. "Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana brought the lawsuit last year, alleging that the Biden administration fostered a sprawling 'federal censorship enterprise' that pressured social-media platforms to scrub away dissenting views on everything from Covid-19 health policies to election security," Gershman writes. In early phases of litigation, Judge Terry A. Doughty permitted the plaintiffs "to gather evidence, such as email communications between White House officials and social-media companies, and depose high-ranking government officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases," according to the report. Doughty "is expected to rule on the states' request for a preliminary injunction that would forbid federal officials from 'taking any steps to demand, urge, encourage, pressure, coerce, deceive, collude with, or otherwise induce' social-media companies to censor disfavored speakers, content and viewpoints," the report adds. | | |  | Inside the industry | | | |  | Competition watch | | | |  | Workforce report | | | |  | Daybook | | - Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) speaks at a New America event on Section 230 reform at 12:30 p.m.
- Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen speaks to our colleague Cat Zakrzewski at a Washington Post Live event on social media accountability and transparency at 1 p.m.
- FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel and fellow commissioners testify at a House Energy and Commerce oversight hearing tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
- Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer unveils his AI regulation framework at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event tomorrow at 11:15 a.m.
- FTC Chair Lina Khan speaks with the Public Private Strategies Institute tomorrow at 2 p.m.
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