While all CEOs, union bosses and civil rights advocates were asked to raise their hands on certain issues, one downside to muzzling senators, according to critics on both sides of the proverbial aisle, is that lawmakers were not easily able to to find out where their allies sit in the Senate. And coalitions are the key to compromise.
“There is no feeling in the room,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts. “Closed door [sessions] For tech giants to come in and talk to senators and not answer tough questions sets a terrible precedent for trying to develop any kind of legislation.”
While Warren sat in the front row — so close that attendees could see the whites of her fiery, consumer-oriented eyes — other critics boycotted the place, even as they sought out the throngs of reporters huddled in the hallways.
“My concern is that [Schumer’s] legislation leads nowhere. I mean, I haven’t seen any indication that he’s actually going to bring any real legislation to the table. It’s kind of like the antitrust legislation of the last two years: He talks about it all the time and does nothing about it,” said Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri. “Part of what this is is a lot of song and dance covering up the fact that nothing is actually moving forward. The whole fact that it’s not public is just absurd.”
Absurd or not, some on the inside were partially reassured as senators were reminded that AI is not only our future, but has been in our lives for years — from social media to Google searches to self-driving cars and video doorbells — without affecting the world.
“I’ve learned that we’re in good shape, that I’m not too worried about it,” said Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas. “I think artificial intelligence has been around for decades, and most of it is machine learning.”
Marshall stands out as an outlier, although his laissez-faire thinking is gaining vogue within the Republican Party, which critics say is due to all the lobbying from the very companies whose leaders attended yesterday’s briefing.
“The good news is that the United States is taking the lead on this issue. I think as long as we stay on the front lines, as we have the advances in military weapons, as we have in satellite investments, we’re going to be just fine,” Marshall said. “I am confident that we are moving in the right direction.”
Still, the eager-to-learn attendees left with a renewed sense of urgency, even if it means first studying a technology that few truly understand, including the people on stage. It seems that the more senators learn about the far-reaching scope of generative AI, the more they recognize that the Senate’s new regulatory role is never ending.
“Are we ready to write legislation? Absolutely not,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican who helped Schumer run the bipartisan AI forums, the next of which will focus on innovation. “Were not there.”
In what was once billed as “the world’s largest deliberative body,” even the timeline for legislation is debatable. “Everyone is nodding their heads and saying, ‘Yes, this is something we need to address,’ so now the question is, ‘How long will it take to reach a consensus?'” said Senator John Hickenlooper, a Democrat from Colorado. “But broadly speaking, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that we’ll get something done next year.”