By Rebekah Sherman
With advances in technology and the creation of artificial intelligence (AI), like ChatGBT, there are concerns about the destructive potential of AI. On Wednesday, September 13, 2023, senators, major technological leaders, civil rights and labor leaders came to the consensus that the United States government should be responsible for regulating AI to ensure the safety of civilians. Among the attendees were Sam Altman, creator of ChatGBT, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates.
The private meeting occurred in the Kennedy Caucus Room in the U.S. Senate on Capitol Hill, which was closed to the public. There were a total of twenty-two invited attendees, along with the hosting senators. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democratic Senator of New York, was responsible for organizing the inaugural forum on AI, which involved technological leaders informing lawmakers about the advantages and disadvantages of AI. Schumer and Republican Senator of South Dakota, Mike Rounds, led the meeting, which was expected to last seven hours.
“We got some consensus on some things. … I asked everyone in the room does government need to play a role in regulating AI, and every single person raised their hand, even though they had diverse views,” described Schumer. “So that gives us a message here that we have to try to act, as difficult as the process might be.”
With the issues concerning regulating AI, the idea was discussed of an independent agency, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology, overseeing specific details concerning the development of artificial intelligence. Another topic included the approaches of open-sourced AI versus closed-source AI. For open-sourced AI, the code may be altered and made available publicly, while the code is kept private for closed-source AI.
There are positive and negative possibilities involving AI. AI may potentially benefit human society by solving world hunger, as Bill Gates suggested, curing cancer, and aiding in education, the food supply, and national security. However, AI may negatively impact people by collecting personal data, causing job loss, assisting American enemies, and annihilating the human race.
“The consequences of AI going wrong are severe, so we have to be proactive rather than reactive,” stated Elon Musk after the meeting. Musk is the Owner of X (formerly Twitter) and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
Although there was an agreement on the need to regulate AI, the question remains about how Congress will achieve this goal.
The concerns about AI extend from the technological leaders to members of the Western New England University community, including Dr. Medha Pujari, Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, and Amanda Madison, a creative writing major and senior at Western New England University. When asked, Dr. Medha Pujari answered that she had read about the senate meeting and agreed that the government should regulate AI.
Dr. Medha Pujari said, “I do think artificial intelligence (AI) should be regulated to a certain extent. As marvelous as it is, AI is a tool that humankind should make responsible use of. Lately, it is being increasingly used for generating fake data, and such usage is driven by malicious or unwanted motives, making it super difficult for humankind to decide what to trust and what not to. To mitigate the dangerous consequences of AI misuse, a governing body should regulate it. However, regulation of AI should not be treated merely as a political issue, instead, it should be considered an approach of minimizing the control that AI has over us.”
Dr. Medha Pujari stressed the importance of using AI responsibly and how the regulation of AI might advance the responsible use of AI.
Dr. Medha Pujari continued, “To me, AI is a powerful technology that has brought (and continues to bring) drastic advancements to the world we live in. It can create wonders if used responsibly. On the other hand, it can create catastrophes if misused. I am concerned that the more powerful a tool is, the more adverse the consequences of its misuse. We are already facing many of such consequences, to mention a few – cyberattacks, deep fake data, social media manipulation, etc. Although regulating AI does not necessarily put a stop to the mentioned problems, a wide-spread robust regulation might bring down some of its adverse effects and promote responsible use of AI.”
Although Madison had not heard of the senate meeting when asked, Madison did approve of the regulation of AI, similar to Dr. Medha Pujari.
Madison said, “Yes. It [AI] is rather threatening in all honesty. It can be used for a variety of detrimental purposes. Even with all the benefits AI can foster, it also can be used as a substitute for critical thinking, a crutch for creativity, and many other things. Given the cybersecurity implications, I think the government should absolutely keep an eye out for any AI that may be used for invasive measures.”
Madison has specific concerns about AI regarding her field of study.
Madison stated, “I am strongly against it. As a writer and artist, it jeopardizes more careers than it helps. It can handcuff creativity by limiting my view on my ideas. I can’t think of any benefit it would have for someone in my career, and I don’t see a greater use. I think AI can only be useful if it’s used medicinally. Use it to solve cancer, not a lack of willingness to pay writers a livable wage.”
Although the advances of AI may benefit human society, the potential negative effects may be detrimental to humankind, which is why AI should be overseen by a governing body to ensure the security of human life and the protection of the Earth.
