Politicians and public officials

John Kennedy

U.S. senator from Louisiana

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Thank you all for being here. Permit me to share with you three hypotheses that I would like you to assume for the moment to be true. Hypothesis number one: Many Members of Congress do not understand artificial intelligence. Hypothesis number two: That absence of understanding may not prevent Congress from plunging in with enthusiasm and trying to regulate this technology in a way that could hurt this technology.

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John Kennedy

U.S. senator from Louisiana

Asked as a question. Not stated as a belief.

At the May 2023 Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing with OpenAI's Sam Altman, John Kennedy asked the witnesses to assume three hypotheses -- among them that there is likely a berserk wing of the artificial intelligence community that intentionally or unintentionally could use artificial intelligence to kill all of us -- and to name two or three reforms or regulations they would implement.

U.S. Senator from Louisiana and member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the LawMay 16, 2023Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, Oversight of A.I.: Rules for Artificial Intelligence

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I know, Mr. Chairman, I'm a little over my time. Professor Marcus. I look forward to helping as much as possible. Senator Coons. Thank you very much. Chair Blumenthal. Thanks, Senator Coons. Senator Kennedy. Thank you all for being here. Permit me to share with you three hypotheses that I would like you to assume for the moment to be true. Hypothesis number one: Many Members of Congress do not understand artificial intelligence. Hypothesis number two: That absence of understanding may not prevent Congress from plunging in with enthusiasm and trying to regulate this technology in a way that could hurt this technology. Hypothesis number three that I would like you to assume: There is likely a berserk wing of the artificial intelligence community that intentionally or unintentionally could use artificial intelligence to kill all of us and hurt us the entire time that we are dying. Assume all of those to be true. Please tell me, in plain English, two or three reforms, regulations, if any, that you would implement if you were queen or king for a day. Ms. Montgomery? Ms. Montgomery. I think it comes back again to transparency and explainability in AI. We absolutely need to know and have companies attest. Senator Kennedy. What do you mean by transparency?

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“AI is moving quickly, and our laws should do the same to prevent AI manipulation from rattling our financial markets. Our bill would help ensure that AI threats do not put Americans’ investments and retirement dreams at risk,” said Kennedy.

John Kennedy

U.S. senator from Louisiana

Announcing the Financial Artificial Intelligence Risk Reduction Act with Sen. Mark Warner in December 2023, John Kennedy said laws should move as quickly as AI to prevent AI manipulation from rattling financial markets and to keep AI threats from putting Americans' investments and retirement dreams at risk.

U.S. Senator from LouisianaDecember 19, 2023Official press release announcing the Financial Artificial Intelligence Risk Reduction Act

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The bill would require the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to lead its member agencies in responding to artificial intelligence (AI) manipulation of financial markets. “AI is moving quickly, and our laws should do the same to prevent AI manipulation from rattling our financial markets. Our bill would help ensure that AI threats do not put Americans’ investments and retirement dreams at risk,” said Kennedy. “AI has tremendous potential but also enormous disruptive power across a variety of fields and industries—perhaps none more so than our financial markets. The time to address those vulnerabilities is now,” said Warner.

What this quote does not say

The quote does not quantify the financial risk or identify a specific AI system.
Introducing the bill establishes Kennedy's policy endorsement, not enactment or effectiveness.

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And in my judgment, we're not nearly ready to be able to craft a bill that looks like somebody designed it on purpose. I think we're more likely to take baby steps.

John Kennedy

U.S. senator from Louisiana

At a 2023 Senate hearing, John Kennedy said senators were not nearly ready to craft a purposefully designed AI bill and would more likely take baby steps.

U.S. Senator from Louisiana and member of the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the LawSeptember 12, 2023Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law hearing, Oversight of A.I.: Legislating on Artificial Intelligence

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… of most Senators' knowledge in terms of the nuances of AI, their general impression is that AI has extraordinary potential to make our lives better if it doesn't make our lives worse first. And that's about the extent of it. And in my judgment, we're not nearly ready to be able to craft a bill that looks like somebody designed it on purpose. I think we're more likely to take baby steps. And I ask you those questions, predictably, because Senator Schatz and I have a bill. It's very simple.

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