US Senators call for assessment of harm caused by Generative AI

US Senators Edward Markey and Gary Peters have called for a detailed technology assessment of generative artificial intelligence (AI), stating it carries serious harms. In a letter to the head of the Government Accountability Office, Markey and Peters cited risks such as manipulative voice, text and image synthesis, deepfakes, and AI chatbots that provide harmful and incorrect information. The letter calls generative AI a double-edged sword and argues that Congress urgently needs non-partisan, technical expertise to understand the costs of the technology. Tech executives and industry experts have previously raised concerns about the potential negative consequences of generative AI without proper regulation and oversight.