Politicians and public officials

Mazie Hirono

U.S. senator from Hawaii

3 records

Portrait source: United States Senate, Public domain

Records

It is a powerful tool that can be used for either good, or it can also be used to spread a lot of disinformation and misinformation. And that happened during the disaster on Maui.

Exact quote, beginning

Mazie Hirono

U.S. senator from Hawaii

Asked as a question. Not stated as a belief.

Asked what could stop foreign governments from using AI to spread false information during disasters, Mazie Hirono said AI can be used for good but could make disaster misinformation more common.

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

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Senator Hirono. Well, that is the thing. How to recognize, you know, going forward, what is actually going to help us with this powerful tool. So I have a question for you, Mr. Smith. It is a powerful tool that can be used for either good, or it can also be used to spread a lot of disinformation and misinformation. And that happened during the disaster on Maui. And Maui residents were subject to disinformation, some of it coming from foreign governments, i.e., Russia, looking to sow confusion and distress, including, ``Don't sign up for FEMA because they cannot be trusted.'' And I worry that with AI, such information will only become more rampant with future disasters. Do you share my concern about misinformation in the disaster context in the role AI could play? And what can we do to prevent these foreign entities from pushing out AI disinformation to people who are very vulnerable?

What this quote does not say

This is a balancing statement, not a recantation of her earlier AGI-harm statement.
The risk is disinformation in disaster response, not existential or loss-of-control risk.

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Quote located in the captured page; spacing normalised for display.

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Specifically, we must ensure advances enabled by AI are used to strengthen, not weaken, the workforce. I am proud to introduce the Workforce of the Future Act to better prepare and equip workers with the skills necessary to adapt to AI and a rapidly-changing work environment.

Mazie Hirono

U.S. senator from Hawaii

In a 2025 news release, Mazie Hirono said she introduced the Workforce of the Future Act to help workers gain skills needed to adapt to AI.

U.S. Senator for HawaiiPublished December 4, 2025 · date of remarks not establishedOfficial Senate office news release

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“As advanced and emerging technologies—including AI—become rapidly integrated within society, it is imperative that we prepare our workforce for these changes,” said Senator Hirono. “Specifically, we must ensure advances enabled by AI are used to strengthen, not weaken, the workforce. I am proud to introduce the Workforce of the Future Act to better prepare and equip workers with the skills necessary to adapt to AI and a rapidly-changing work environment.” Without proper guardrails, the impact AI could have on our economy is wide-ranging. According to studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), AI could replace nearly 12 percent of the workforce.

What this quote does not say

The quotation endorses the Act's purpose but does not itself enumerate the grants and reporting provisions described elsewhere on the page.
This is an official-office quotation rather than an independently preserved audiovisual utterance.

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Quote matched character-for-character against the captured page.

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I agree. And that is why the--by the time we're talking about AGI, we're talking about major harms that can occur through the use of AGI. So, Professor Marcus, I mean, what kind of a regulatory scheme would you envision? And we can't just come up with something, you know, that is going to take care of the issues that will arise in the future, especially with AGI. So what kind of a scheme would you contemplate?

Mazie Hirono

U.S. senator from Hawaii

Asked as a question. Not stated as a belief.

Asked what kind of regulatory system could address future harms from artificial general intelligence, Mazie Hirono described the possible harms only as major.

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

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And that's why I personally think we need such a scheme. Senator Hirono. I agree. And that is why the--by the time we're talking about AGI, we're talking about major harms that can occur through the use of AGI. So, Professor Marcus, I mean, what kind of a regulatory scheme would you envision? And we can't just come up with something, you know, that is going to take care of the issues that will arise in the future, especially with AGI. So what kind of a scheme would you contemplate? Professor Marcus. Well, first, if I can rewind just a moment, I think you really put your finger on the central scientific issue in terms of the challenges in building artificial intelligence.

What this quote does not say

The quotation does not specify the magnitude, mechanism, or probability of the major harms.
The 160.7 MB official PDF was too large for the web opener, but its GovInfo URL and the official HTML transcript both resolved from the opened GovInfo content-details page.

How this was checked

Quote located in the captured page; spacing normalised for display.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check