Democratic Sens. Gary Peters (Mich.) and Ed Markey (Mass.) asked the nonpartisan government agency to conduct a “detailed technology assessment” of the risks of generative AI tools and how to mitigate them in a letter sent Friday.
The Democrats noted previously identified risks of the technology, ranging from malicious actors creating AI-generated porn without consent to AI tools promoting dangerous and harmful activities.
“These current and potential future harms require urgent study. We ask GAO to assess this list of questions about harms from generative AI and potential strategies for mitigation,” the senators wrote.
The letter from Markey and Peters requesting a GAO review follows a series of hearings in Congress on AI, including a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing in May with the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind the popular ChatGPT AI chatbot.
It also comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) laid out a framework for AI regulation earlier this week. Schumer’s SAFE Innovation Framework for AI calls for lawmakers to push forward with regulation that is guided by five key pillars: security, accountability, protecting foundations, explainability and innovation.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
