Schumer explains process for tackling AI, without endorsing specific plans

On Capitol Hill, however, many lawmakers agree with Mr. Schumer that in order to develop a comprehensive framework for regulation, Congress must first have a better understanding of the issue.

“It’s critical that as we think about regulating AI, which I think most people would agree is going to be necessary, we need to understand why we’re regulating it,” said Rep. Jay Obernolte, a Republican from California and a video game developer with a master’s degree in artificial intelligence. He said Mr Schumer’s framework would be “useful because it encourages a necessary discussion”.

Mr. Schumer is not the first congressional leader to try to educate Congress on the rapidly expanding implications of AI. briefing for members to discuss AI regulatory challenges with experts; Mr. Schumer is offering senators a similar set of audiences this month.

But while the approach is systematically two-pronged, it has failed to bridge key gaps between the parties on how to approach regulation.

For example, several Democrats have called for a new federal agency to regulate AI, just as the Food and Drug Administration regulates the agricultural and medical industries. Colorado Democrat Senator Michael Bennet, who advocates such an approach, suggested that such a body could “provide the kind of expertise and oversight” needed to take on big tech companies, as “Congress will never go it alone.”

But the suggestion is anathema to Republicans like Mr. Obernolte, who rejects the idea of ​​potentially duplicating the efforts of federal agencies “who are already grappling with the problem of how to craft regulations related to AI within their sectoral spaces.”

There is a similar, unresolved debate in Congress over whether AI laws should be comprehensive or specific to address certain topics.