As ChatGPT’s Popularity Explodes, U.S. lawmakers Take an Interest

(CTN News) – A rapidly expanding artificial intelligence program called ChatGPT has received praise for its ability to quickly write responses to a wide range of questions and has drawn the attention of US lawmakers with concerns about its effects on national security and education.

The fastest-growing consumer application in history, ChatGPT was estimated to have surpassed 100 million monthly active users just two months after launch, making it a rising target for regulation.

OpenAI developed it, a business supported by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), and distributed without charge to the general public.

Because of its prevalence, there is concern that generative AI like ChatGPT could be used to spread misinformation, and teachers are concerned that students will use it to cheat.

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat on the House of Representatives Science Committee, expressed in a recent opinion piece in the New York Times that he was both “freaked out by A.I., specifically A.I. that is left unchecked and unregulated,” as well as excited about AI and the “incredible ways it will continue to advance society.”

According to a resolution introduced by Lieu that ChatGPT wrote, Congress should focus on AI.

It stated that this is necessary “to ensure that the development and deployment of AI are done in a way that is safe, ethical, and respects the rights and privacy of all Americans and that the benefits of AI are widely distributed, and the risks are minimized.”

According to aides for the Democratic lawmakers, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visited Capitol Hill in January and met with lawmakers interested in technology like Senators Mark Warner, Ron Wyden, and Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jake Auchincloss.

Wyden’s aide claimed that the lawmaker pressed Altman to ensure AI did not contain prejudices that would result in discrimination in the real world, such as housing or employment.

Senator Wyden is “laser-focused on ensuring automated systems don’t automate discrimination in the process,” according to Keith Chu, an aide to Wyden. “Senator Wyden believes AI has tremendous potential to speed up innovation and research,” Chu added.

According to a second congressional staffer, the conversations centered on how quickly AI is evolving and how it may be used.

According to media reports, ChatGPT has already been prohibited in schools in New York and Seattle due to concerns about plagiarism. According to a congressional aide, teachers concerned about cheating are the main source of constituents’ worries.

“We don’t want ChatGPT to be used for misleading purposes in schools or anywhere else, so we’re already developing mitigations to help anyone identify text generated by that system,” said OpenAI.

OpenAI’s chief technology officer, Mira Murati, stated in a Time interview that the company welcomed feedback from all sources, including regulators and governments. “Regulators should still get engaged,” she said.

National security issues were brought up by Andrew Burt, managing partner of BNH.AI, a law firm specializing in AI liability.

He added that he had conversations with lawmakers considering whether to regulate ChatGPT and other similar AI systems like Google’s Bard, though he could not reveal their names.

He added that these AI systems could produce material at sizes and rates that people cannot be their whole value proposition.

I would anticipate using these technologies to produce inaccurate or damaging information from bad actors, non-state actors, and state actors with hostile interests to those of the United States.

When asked how it should be controlled, ChatGPT ducked the question and said, “As a neutral AI language model, I don’t have a position on particular legislation that may or may not be implemented to govern AI systems like me.”

However, it continued by listing possible regulatory priorities, including data privacy, bias and fairness, and openness in the way questions are answered.

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