[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 6, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           AI Insight Forums

  Mr. President, now on our AI insight forums, next week, the Senate 
will host a gathering unlike any we have seen before here in Washington 
when we kick off our inaugural AI Insight Forum on September 13--a 
gathering unlike any seen before to debate a topic unlike any other.
  Our world is already changing in dramatic ways because of artificial 
intelligence, but we are likely just at the start. So to meet the 
challenge of this moment, our AI Insight Forums will convene some of 
America's leading voices in AI from different walks of life and many 
different viewpoints--executives and civil rights leaders, researchers, 
advocates, voices from labor and defense and business and the arts.
  I am proud to say next week's AI Insight Forum--the first of a whole 
series we will host this fall--will be high-powered, diverse, but above 
all, balanced. That is precisely what Congress needs right now. Our 
committees have already done great bipartisan work on this topic, and 
ultimately they will be the ones tasked with drafting legislation. But 
these insight forums will supercharge the committee process by getting 
to the root of AI--where to start, what questions to ask, how to move 
forward. They will provide the nutrient agar to help committees do 
their work.
  Let me stress something else. There is truly bipartisan interest to 
work on AI here in the Senate. I want to thank my colleagues, Senators 
Rounds, Young, and Heinrich, for working with me to organize these 
forums, as well as all my colleagues on both sides who recognize that 
we must move quickly on this issue.
  Legislating AI is certainly not going to be easy. In fact, it will be 
one of the most difficult things we have ever undertaken. But we cannot 
behave like ostriches sticking our heads in the sand when it comes to 
AI. Both parties must work together and treat AI with the same level of 
seriousness as national security, job creation, or civil liberties 
because very soon, if not already, AI will impact all these issues and 
more.