Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is leading a bipartisan effort for lawmakers to address artificial intelligence’s relatively recent emergence, aiming to eventually devote “at least $32 billion per year for (non-defense) AI innovation.”
Schumer was joined by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) in working on a report that details how Congress could handle artificial intelligence.
“I am proud to say the bipartisan Roadmap embraces action to protect elections that mirror the proposals before us today,” Schumer said at a Rules Committee markup of three election-related AI bills on Wednesday.
“Because if we are not careful, AI has the potential to jaundice or even totally discredit our election systems,” he said. “If deepfakes are everywhere and no one believes the results of the elections, woe is our democracy. This is so damn serious. And that’s why it is important to get something done, and it’s going to take bipartisan cooperation if we have any hope to getting legislation enacted into law.”
The three bills — the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, the AI Transparency in Elections Act of 2024, and the Preparing Election Administrators for AI Act — all aim to “prohibit deep fakes of federal candidates, require disclaimers when AI is heavily featured in political ads, and offer guidance for administrators to keep our elections structure safe.”
The senators did not specify a specific timetable for advancing the proposed legislation, and the “road map” of navigating AI could face roadblocks, especially in the unpredictable House.
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The $32 billion spent on AI is a goal, but members of Congress think it could be worth it.
“I think when you’re talking about AI, they’re going to upgrade the old message of ‘You could be penny wise and pound foolish,’” Rounds said. “In this case, it may very well be ‘You could be billions-wise and trillions-foolish.’”
