[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 144 (Thursday, September 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4244-S4245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, finally, on AI. Next week the Senate 
will host one of the most important conversations of the year when the 
top minds in artificial intelligence convene for our first AI Insight 
Forum. It will be a meeting unlike any other that we have seen in the 
Senate in a very long time--perhaps ever. A coming together of top 
voices in business, civil rights, defense, research, labor, the arts--
all together in one room having a much needed discussion, conversation, 
about how Congress can tackle AI.
  Both parties recognize that AI is something we can't ignore, but we 
need a lot of help understanding the best way forward. Different 
countries are taking such different approaches to AI, and some are more 
successful than others.

  We have to learn from their mistakes and learn from this panel, 
illustrious as it is. We need to find an approach that balances both 
innovation and savings. That means both creative innovation to develop 
new applications, new technologies, new breakthroughs so we can advance 
in science and in medicine and in education and in health and in so 
many other areas--communications. But we also need innovation on 
guardrails so we can find creative and new ways to protect our kids, 
our privacy, prevent racial bias, prevent doomsday scenarios. 
Innovation must apply to both sides of the equation, innovating so we 
can move the advantages of AI forward but innovating so we can deal 
with the problems that AI might create and lessen them as much as we 
can.
  It will not be easy, not easy at all. In fact, it will be one of the 
hardest things we undertake in Congress, the hardest thing we probably 
ever have undertaken. That is why next week's conversation will be so 
important because it will be the first of a series of forums that will 
give our committees the knowledge base and thought insights to draft 
the right kind of policies. Already our committees have done some 
outstanding work on this topic, holding no less than eight hearings on 
AI on matters related to national security, intellectual property, 
human rights, and more. In fact, as we speak, the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee is holding a hearing on AI and the Department of 
Energy's role in preserving competition and new technologies.
  One thing I want to underscore before I finish my speech here on my 
little talk here on AI is that we are doing this in a bipartisan way. 
Senator Rounds, Senator Young, Senator Heinrich, and myself are sort of 
steering this effort. We are having this be done in a bipartisan way, 
and we expect the committees to work in a bipartisan way because if 
this becomes a partisan issue, nothing will happen, and that could 
create real problems in our society. So the Senate is ready and 
engaging on this most important issue.
  I want to thank my colleagues for their work. I want to thank 
Senators Rounds, Young, and Heinrich for helping organize these forums, 
and I look forward to our conversation, our very

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important conversation, next week. We hope Senators will come--Senators 
and their staffs will come, listen, learn, and then act.
  I yield the floor.

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