Politicians Call for Creation of ‘Blue-Ribbon Commission’ Panel to Analyze Effects of Artificial Intelligence

After much delay, the government has taken action regarding the regulation of generative AI. On Monday, Representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Ken Buck (R-CO) proposed a bill that would create a commission consisting of 20 individuals to explore methods of reducing the potential dangers and negative effects of AI, while also safeguarding America’s status as a leading technology force in the world.

The bill would require the executive branch to appoint experts from across government, academia and industry to conduct a study over two years and produce three reports during that time. The president would appoint eight members of the committee, while Congress, in an effort to “ensure bipartisanship,” would divide the remaining 12 seats evenly between the two parties (thereby ensuring that the entire process would turn into a partisan circus).

“[Generative AI] can disrupt society, from art to medicine to architecture to so many different fields, and it can also potentially harm us, and so I think we need to take a slightly different approach,” Lieu told Washington. He sees the reward as a way to give lawmakers — the very people TikTok routinely confuses — some “breathing room” to understand how the cutting-edge technology works.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) plans to introduce the upper chamber counterpart of the bill, Lieu’s team told WaPo, though no timeline was given for the event. Lieu also stated that Congress as a whole would do well to avoid passing major legislation on the matter before the commission has had its time. “I just think we need some experts to inform us and it’s only a matter of time before we get something massive into law,” Lieu said.

Of course, that would then push any kind of meaningful congressional generative AI legislation to 2027 at the earliest, and not right now, when we really need it. Given how quickly both the technology and its use cases have evolved in just the past six months, this research’s work will be interrupted just to keep pace with change, much less convince the octogenarians leading our nation of the potential dangers posed by AI. for our democracy.