Senate AI Working Group’s Roadmap Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

Last week, the Senate AI Working Group released an eagerly-awaited roadmap report, “Driving U.S. Innovation in Artificial Intelligence: A Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Policy in the United States Senate.” This document, which is the culmination of a roughly year-long process of hearings and expert consultations, aims to guide congressional policy on artificial intelligence. While the roadmap represents a step forward in the AI policy debate, it also underscores the profound uncertainty and lack of consensus surrounding how to govern this transformative technology.

The roadmap proposes a range of measures to encourage AI innovation in the U.S. while mitigating potential risks. Recommendations in the report include making federal investments in AI research and development, expanding access to AI educational resources nationwide, developing a “capabilities-focused risk-based approach” to AI governance, and leveraging immigration to attract top AI talent. On workforce impacts, the roadmap recommends training programs to prepare workers for an AI-enabled economy, with additional policies to address job displacement. For high-impact AI uses, the report emphasizes ensuring compliance with existing laws and identifying any regulatory gaps, while guaranteeing constitutional rights are protected.

As R Street policy analyst Adam Thierer points out, the roadmap largely eschews proposals like the creation of a broad AI-specific regulatory agency or mandatory licensing and auditing schemes, ideas which have dominated some earlier policy discussions. This shift away from preemptive regulation is a positive development, reflecting a more sensible approach to AI policy since the Senate launched a series of AI Insight Forums in September of last year. These information-sharing meetings gathered together D.C. lawmakers with a wide range of experts and practitioners in the AI field.

Read the full article on Forbes.