Biden Admin Announces Proposal for Potential AI Regulations

By: Jason Cohen, Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration put out an official request for feedback on potential artificial intelligence regulations Tuesday.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) released the request as the Biden administration has started looking into whether regulations will be necessary for AI tools like ChatGPT, according to The Wall Street Journal. Technologists including AI researchers, Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak have called for a six-month moratorium on massive AI experiments, raising concerns such as job automation and propaganda, according to the open letter they wrote on March 22.

NTIA included topics in its request such as what types of information availability are necessary to conduct audits and evaluations, how regulators and additional authorities can promote AI systems’ trustworthiness, and how to customize regulations for various sectors, according to the document. The public must submit its written feedback by June 10.

“We all see the benefits that responsible AI innovation will bring and we want that innovation to happen safely,” according to Assistant Commerce Secretary Alan Davidson, who runs NTIA, in an announcement on Tuesday at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute For Cyber Law, Policy & Security. “But we’re concerned that is not happening today … there are risks of privacy, security, and safety — potential bias and discrimination.”

However, regulation can also slow the development of AI as it has in Europe, Cato Institute Technology Policy Research Fellow Jennifer Huddleston previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation. America has an opportunity “to really be a global leader if we get the policy framework right,” Huddleston said.

The White House released a blueprint for an AI bill of rights in October. The 73-page document mentions the word “discrimination” 79 times and variations of “equity” 59 times.

“We believe that powerful AI systems should be subject to rigorous safety evaluations,” wrote OpenAI in a blog post on April 5. “Regulation is needed to ensure that such practices are adopted, and we actively engage with governments on the best form such regulation could take.”

On March 14, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT4 with impressive results such as excelling at exams but still acknowledged the chatbot produces biased content, according to the company’s report.