At a hearing held by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, members of both political parties, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and several representatives of the tech industry discussed the growing need to protect people from potential harm caused by artificial intelligence (AI). Spooked by the concerns of the industry, US lawmakers are now debating if a national regulating agency for AI is necessary to ensure the safety of all users.
Sam Altman of OpenAI spoke out in favor of this idea and said it was the best way to protect the population from the consequences of the abuse of AI technology. He also stated that all AI companies should submit their models to external testing and proposed an agency that grants or revokes licenses for creating AI higher than a certain threshold of capability.
Other representatives at the hearing mentioned the issues of data privacy and how current US federal agencies might not be able to keep up with the constantly changing landscape of tech and AI. With this in mind, senators such as Peter Welch (D) agreed that there needs to be some form of regulation and better protection of data privacy. Richard Blumenthal (D), who chaired the hearing, further evoked sympathy towards his cause by reading a voice clone of himself created by ChatGPT.
Bringing the discussion beyond the US, Gary Marcus, an AI commentator, suggested the possibility of a global AI regulator which could ensure the safe practice of artificial intelligence.
OpenAI is a research lab based in San Francisco that has made considerable contributions to the field of AI-based technologies. Founded in 2015, the company focuses on creating a safe and beneficial AI industry. With its new model, ChatGPT, OpenAI raised awareness among US lawmakers about the potential consequences of AI gone bad and the need to create a regulatory agency to regulate the technology. It remains to be seen what action US lawmakers and authorities will take to protect citizens from the potential harms of AI technology.
