[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4838 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4838

  To direct the Secretary of Commerce to develop a national strategy 
   regarding artificial intelligence consumer literacy and conduct a 
      national artificial intelligence consumer literacy campaign.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 2024

 Mr. Kelly (for himself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Commerce to develop a national strategy 
   regarding artificial intelligence consumer literacy and conduct a 
      national artificial intelligence consumer literacy campaign.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Consumer Literacy and Empowerment to 
Advance Responsible Navigation of Artificial Intelligence Act'' or the 
``Consumers LEARN AI Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Artificial intelligence is being incorporated into 
        progressively more products and services that affect the lives 
        of individuals across the United States every day.
            (2) Artificial intelligence technology has the potential to 
        benefit consumers--
                    (A) in terms of increased efficiency;
                    (B) in areas such as automation, personalized 
                learning, entertainment, problem solving, and more; and
                    (C) with respect to future advances yet to be 
                invented.
            (3) Consumers require new skill sets and guidance on best 
        practices to make effective use of artificial intelligence 
        products and services. A lack of familiarity with new 
        technology can create barriers to its adoption and trust. An 
        understanding of the strengths and limitations of artificial 
        intelligence technologies can enable consumers to make informed 
        decisions about when and where to employ artificial 
        intelligence products and services.
            (4) Consumer education can supplement, although not 
        replace, the responsibility of developers and deployers of 
        artificial intelligence products and services to ensure their 
        safety and efficacy and to provide product-specific consumer 
        guidance about recommended uses as well as inappropriate or 
        unsafe uses.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial 
        intelligence'' means an engineered system that can, for a given 
        set of human-defined objectives, generate output such as 
        content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions that 
        influence people or environments.
            (2) Artificial intelligence consumer literacy.--The term 
        ``artificial intelligence consumer literacy'' means an 
        understanding of the capabilities and limitations of different 
        kinds of artificial intelligence, and the ability to understand 
        and use information provided about products and services that 
        employ artificial intelligence, to support safe and responsible 
        decisions about exposure to and the acquisition and use of such 
        products and services.
            (3) Campaign.--The term ``campaign'' means the artificial 
        intelligence literacy national public service campaign 
        described in section 4(c)(2).
            (4) Consumer.--The term ``consumer'' means any individual, 
        including a small business owner, within the territorial 
        jurisdiction of the United States who is offered, purchases, 
        transacts, or contracts for the purchase or transaction of any 
        goods, merchandise, or services that the individual does not 
        intend to offer for resale in the ordinary course of the 
        individual's trade or business.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.

SEC. 4. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CONSUMER LITERACY NATIONAL STRATEGY AND 
              CAMPAIGN.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall develop a national strategy 
and public campaign materials and take such action as the Secretary 
deems necessary to create, improve, or augment the artificial 
intelligence consumer literacy programs and materials of the Federal 
Government, including curricula for all people of the United States.
    (b) National Strategy.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
                    (A) not later than 6 months after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, develop a multilingual national 
                strategy to promote artificial intelligence consumer 
                literacy among all consumers, informed by the report 
                described in subsection (d)(1);
                    (B) consult with Federal agencies and State, local, 
                Tribal, and territorial governments, and private, 
                nonprofit, and public institutions that the Secretary 
                identifies as having relevant expertise pursuant to 
                paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (e);
                    (C) consult the Administrator of the Small Business 
                Administration to develop strategy elements relevant to 
                small business owners, and in the creation and 
                implementation of the national strategy;
                    (D) consider the specific needs of different 
                demographics, regions, and economies that may interact 
                with artificial intelligence products and services in 
                different ways; and
                    (E) coordinate Federal efforts to implement the 
                national strategy and campaign.
            (2) Strategy.--The national strategy developed pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) support current and future consumers of 
                artificial intelligence services and products with the 
                information needed to decide whether and when to employ 
                such products and services;
                    (B) develop methods to enhance the general 
                understanding of the capabilities and limitations of 
                artificial intelligence products and services offered 
                to consumers;
                    (C) employ a national public service campaign to 
                develop and disseminate materials to all communities in 
                the United States; and
                    (D) consider additional strategies such as prize 
                competitions, newsletters, and other ways to engage the 
                public and enable messages to reach consumers in local, 
                community-specific ways.
            (3) Areas of emphasis.--The national strategy shall 
        emphasize, among other elements, information that ensures 
        consumers have--
                    (A) a basic understanding of--
                            (i) artificial intelligence and its uses in 
                        daily life;
                            (ii) the capabilities and limitations of 
                        artificial intelligence consumer products and 
                        services, including what questions to ask of a 
                        provider of such products or services to gain 
                        that understanding; and
                            (iii) artificial intelligence tasks 
                        (including classification, prediction, product 
                        recommendation, autonomous decision making, 
                        voice dictation and machine translation, and 
                        the generation of content such as text, image, 
                        video, or speech) and how such tasks involve 
                        different capabilities, benefits, and risks;
                    (B) an awareness of--
                            (i) best practices for the protection of 
                        personal data and personal identifying 
                        information;
                            (ii) legal considerations in the consumer 
                        use of artificial intelligence consumer 
                        products and services; and
                            (iii) common attempts to employ content 
                        that is generated or modified by artificial 
                        intelligence tools to deceive or defraud 
                        consumers; and
                    (C) other artificial intelligence consumer literacy 
                skills identified for emphasis by the Secretary.
            (4) Use cases.--The Secretary shall, in consultation with 
        officials the Secretary identifies as having relevant expertise 
        pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (e), create 
        specialized use cases to address artificial intelligence 
        consumer literacy for tasks such as those described in 
        paragraph (3)(A)(iii) as they manifest in domains such as 
        personal finance, healthcare recommendations, communication, 
        creative works, and business management and operations across a 
        range of contexts such as mobile device applications, computer 
        software, and internet platforms.
            (5) Briefing to congress.--Not later than 30 days after 
        completing the national strategy, the Secretary shall provide a 
        briefing to Congress on such strategy.
            (6) National strategy review.--The Secretary shall, not 
        less than annually, review the national strategy developed 
        under this subsection and make such changes and recommendations 
        as the Secretary deems necessary.
    (c) Development and Dissemination of National Public Service 
Campaign Materials.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the national 
        strategy described in subsection (b) is completed, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    (A) develop materials to promote artificial 
                intelligence consumer literacy;
                    (B) disseminate such materials to the general 
                public; and
                    (C) create a website where such materials will be 
                published.
            (2) National public service campaign.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall develop, in 
                consultation with nonprofit, public, and private 
                organizations, especially those with access to local 
                communities and that are well qualified by virtue of 
                their experience in the safe and responsible use of 
                artificial intelligence, an artificial intelligence 
                consumer literacy national public service campaign that 
                is consistent with the national strategy described in 
                subsection (b).
                    (B) Availability of campaign materials.--The 
                Secretary--
                            (i) shall--
                                    (I) make publicly available on the 
                                website created pursuant to paragraph 
                                (1)(C) any educational materials 
                                developed as part of the campaign;
                                    (II) distribute core messaging 
                                materials of the campaign to the public 
                                using multiple channels of 
                                communication, including through the 
                                use of television, radio, and internet 
                                platforms and advertisements on such 
                                platforms; and
                                    (III) coordinate with the 
                                Administrator of the Small Business 
                                Administration on the distribution of 
                                campaign materials relevant to small 
                                business owners through resource 
                                partners of the Small Business 
                                Administration, including small 
                                business development centers, women 
                                business centers, SCORE, veteran 
                                business opportunity centers, and Apex 
                                Accelerators; and
                            (ii) may select 1 or more private or non-
                        profit organizations that are well-qualified in 
                        the distribution of public service campaigns to 
                        aid in the dissemination of campaign materials.
                    (C) Periodic updates.--Not later than 1 year after 
                the date the campaign is initiated, and annually 
                thereafter, the Secretary shall update the campaign 
                materials as needed to incorporate any significant 
                changes due to new innovations, products, or services 
                available to consumers or in light of new consumer 
                harms that are identified.
                    (D) Performance measures.--The Secretary shall 
                develop measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the 
                campaign, such as the effectiveness of the campaign at 
                reaching consumers, consumer engagement with materials, 
                and the level of consumer adoption of and satisfaction 
                with artificial intelligence products and services.
                    (E) Evaluation.--Not later than 90 days after 
                campaign materials are made available or distributed 
                under subparagraph (B) or updated under subparagraph 
                (C), the Secretary shall employ a private or nonprofit 
                organization to conduct an evaluation on the 
                effectiveness of the campaign using the performance 
                measures developed pursuant to subparagraph (D).
            (3) Multilingual materials.--The Secretary shall ensure 
        that the artificial intelligence consumer literacy materials 
        and the campaign developed and disseminated under this 
        subsection are available in English, Spanish, and other 
        languages deemed appropriate by the Secretary.
    (d) Reports.--
            (1) Artificial intelligence consumer literacy survey 
        report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Government Accountability Office shall issue a 
        report that--
                    (A) summarizes all Federal programs and materials 
                extant at the time of enactment of this Act that seek 
                to improve artificial intelligence literacy for 
                consumers; and
                    (B) assesses the effectiveness of such programs.
            (2) Strategy for consumer artificial intelligence literacy 
        report.--Not later than 15 months after the date of enactment 
        of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
        submit a report, titled the ``Strategy for Consumer Artificial 
        Intelligence Literacy'' or ``SCAIL Report'', to the Committee 
        on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives on the progress of the Secretary in carrying 
        out this Act. Such report shall include--
                    (A) the national strategy for artificial 
                intelligence consumer literacy developed pursuant to 
                subsection (b);
                    (B) information concerning the implementation of 
                the duties of the Secretary described in this section, 
                including a list of government officials and other 
                representatives consulted pursuant to subsection (e);
                    (C) an assessment of the success of the Secretary 
                in implementing the national strategy developed 
                pursuant to subsection (b);
                    (D) an assessment of the state of artificial 
                intelligence consumer literacy in the United States;
                    (E) a brief summary of the artificial intelligence 
                consumer literacy materials developed pursuant to 
                subsection (c);
                    (F) for years in which the campaign is active, a 
                description on the status of the campaign and 
                information regarding its dissemination, efficacy, and 
                impact, including information on any evaluation of the 
                campaign conducted pursuant to subsection (c)(2)(E);
                    (G) information about the activities of the 
                Secretary in implementing this Act planned for the next 
                fiscal year; and
                    (H) such other materials relating to the duties of 
                the Secretary under this Act that the Secretary deems 
                appropriate.
    (e) Consultation.--In carrying out this Act, the Secretary shall 
actively consult with--
            (1) government officials with relevant consumer and 
        artificial intelligence expertise, including--
                    (A) the Chair of the Consumer Product Safety 
                Commission;
                    (B) the Secretary of Education;
                    (C) the Director of the National Institute of 
                Standards and Technology;
                    (D) the Director of the National Science 
                Foundation; and
                    (E) the Administrator of the Small Business 
                Administration;
            (2) any other official the Secretary identifies as having 
        relevant expertise, especially in the development of domain-
        specific artificial intelligence use cases, such as--
                    (A) the Secretary of Agriculture;
                    (B) the Director of the Consumer Financial 
                Protection Bureau;
                    (C) the Attorney General;
                    (D) the Chair of the Federal Communications 
                Commission;
                    (E) the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission;
                    (F) the Secretary of Health and Human Services; and
                    (G) the Administrator of the National Highway 
                Traffic Safety Administration; and
            (3) industry and public organizations that the Secretary 
        identifies as having expertise, information, or knowledge 
        relevant to artificial intelligence consumer literacy or 
        dissemination of literacy materials to the public, including 
        representatives from--
                    (A) private, nonprofit, and public organizations; 
                and
                    (B) State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
                governments.
    (f) Coordination of Efforts.--The Secretary shall take such steps 
as are necessary to coordinate and promote artificial intelligence 
consumer literacy efforts at the State and local level, including 
promoting partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, 
nonprofit organizations, and private enterprises.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for fiscal 
years 2025 through 2034 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the 
activities described in this Act.
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