Politicians and public officials

Ted Cruz

U.S. senator

3 records

Portrait source: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio, Public domain

Records

There are likely some risks with AI that we can guard against now—such as cybersecurity vulnerabilities or a problem targeted by a bill introduced by Senator Klobuchar and me called the Take It Down Act. Our bill targets bad actors who use AI to create and publish fake, lifelike explicit images of real people.

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Ted Cruz

U.S. senator

In 2024 prepared remarks, Ted Cruz backed the Take It Down Act, which would require online platforms to remove nonconsensual AI-generated explicit images after receiving notice.

Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationJuly 31, 2024Senate Commerce Committee executive session opening statement

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Congress do the work of handicapping the American AI industry for it. “To avoid the U.S. losing this race with China before it has hardly begun, Congress should ensure AI legislation is incremental and targeted. There are likely some risks with AI that we can guard against now—such as cybersecurity vulnerabilities or a problem targeted by a bill introduced by Senator Klobuchar and me called the Take It Down Act. Our bill targets bad actors who use AI to create and publish fake, lifelike explicit images of real people. The Take It Down Act, which has a bipartisan group of 16 co-sponsors, would also require Big Tech to follow a notice-and-takedown process so that ordinary Americans who are victimized by these disturbing and non-consensual images can get them offline immediately. This bill is a tailored solution to a real problem, unlike many of the other AI-related bills on today’s markup. “The Committee will consider several other important bills today as well. “One such bill is my Illegal Red Snapper Enforcement Act, co-sponsored by Senators Tuberville and Britt.

What this quote does not say

The passage addresses malicious human use of AI, not autonomous systems.
The statement that the bill had 16 co-sponsors was not independently re-counted because it is not needed for the selected policy proposition.

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A 2016 Accenture report predicted that artificial intelligence could double annual economic growth rates by 2035 and boost labor productivity up to 40 percent. So these are exciting new opportunities for our economy, but at the same time, this technology produces challenges that could have very significant impacts in labor markets and a real need to secure the privacy of individuals and to guard against threats, in particular, in the cybersecurity space.

Ted Cruz

U.S. senator

At a 2017 Senate hearing, Ted Cruz said AI could significantly affect labor markets and create privacy and cybersecurity risks.

U.S. Senator from TexasMarch 22, 2017Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing, The Promises and Perils of Emerging Technologies for Cybersecurity

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Among the promise artificial intelligence presents is the opportunity to unleash a technological revolution that the world has not seen since the creation of the internet, and it could impact every sector of our economy. A 2016 Accenture report predicted that artificial intelligence could double annual economic growth rates by 2035 and boost labor productivity up to 40 percent. So these are exciting new opportunities for our economy, but at the same time, this technology produces challenges that could have very significant impacts in labor markets and a real need to secure the privacy of individuals and to guard against threats, in particular, in the cybersecurity space. In an interview with Wired magazine last year, President Obama stated, ``Then there could be an algorithm that said, `Go penetrate the nuclear codes and figure out how to launch some missiles.' If that's its only job, if

What this quote does not say

The statement does not quantify the labor impact or specify a cyberattack scenario.
It concerns societal and cybersecurity harms, not autonomous loss of control or human extinction.

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I don’t discount that there are some risks associated with the rapid development and deployment of AI. But we must be precise about what these risks are. I’ve heard concerns from my colleagues about misinformation, discrimination, and security. These certainly present challenges, but I have a hard time viewing them as existential risks, or even worthy of new regulation.

In a 2023 statement submitted to a Senate hearing, Ted Cruz said he had a hard time viewing AI-related misinformation, discrimination, and security concerns as existential risks or grounds for new regulation.

U.S. Senator from Texas and Senate Commerce Committee Ranking MemberSeptember 12, 2023Prepared statement submitted to The Need for Transparency in Artificial Intelligence hearing

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These are often cumbersome and infeasible, especially for the startups so common in the tech sector. “I don’t discount that there are some risks associated with the rapid development and deployment of AI. But we must be precise about what these risks are. I’ve heard concerns from my colleagues about misinformation, discrimination, and security. These certainly present challenges, but I have a hard time viewing them as existential risks, or even worthy of new regulation. “To me, the biggest existential risk we face is ourselves. At this point, Congress understands so little about AI that it will do more harm than good.

What this quote does not say

The phrase 'these risks' refers specifically to misinformation, discrimination, and security concerns, not necessarily every conceivable AI risk.
Cruz's claim that the concerns are not worthy of new regulation is a policy judgment, not an empirical probability estimate.

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

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