A Senate hearing introduced American citizens to artificial intelligence executive Sam Altman earlier this week. Altman, CEO of OpenAI, was received with surprise and gratitude by Senators when he agreed with their concerns of the potential harmful implications of artificial intelligence technology. Altman’s testimony skillfully proposed setting up an agency, one which could act as either a national or global professional body, in order to grant licenses for use of the most powerful AI systems. This idea was met with initial enthusiasm from the lawmakers present.
OpenAI is a for-profit artificial intelligence research company founded in 2015, originally as a non-profit organization. OpenAI have close ties with technology giant Microsoft, and the company is dedicated to creating the most powerful AI systems possible. Altman was also open to collaborating with senators in order to define more regulations.
Though there is much hope for a potential change in regulations, history proves this kind of progress has not been easy. Despite outcries for new regulations in how people’s data is managed, there is still no national privacy law in effect. This is where activist research like Margaret Mitchell’s becomes essential. Many of the concerns expressed in Altman’s hearing, such as being able to detect copyrighted material, can be addressed by changes made through Mitchell’s research. To date, The European Union proposed a “107-page AI Act” setting out new regulations on AI discretion, and the Parliament will be voting on it mid-June.
To truly make headway with understanding and regulating the use of Artificial Intelligence, it is essential the United States looks into trying to pass legislation which is both sustainable and capable of preventing the potential harms it can cause. This would require strong collaboration between tech executives such as Altman and government bodies in order to ensure any regulations prevent commercial gains from superseding citizens’ rights to privacy, and individual safety.
