Rep.
Don
Beyer,
D-Va.
Bill
Clark
|
CQ-Roll
Call,
Inc.
|
Getty
Images
WASHINGTON
—
Don
Beyer
isn’t
the
average
student
at
George
Mason
University.
He’s
73
years
old.
He
prefers
a
notebook
and
pen
to
a
laptop
for
note-taking.
And
he’s
a
top
lawmaker
on
AI
policy
in
Congress.
The
Virginia
Democrat
found
AI
fascinating,
but
the
breakthrough
came
when
he
realized
he
could
enroll
in
computer
science
classes
at
George
Mason
University.
So
he
enrolled,
starting
with
the
prerequisite
classes
that
will
ultimately
lead
him
to
a
master’s
degree
in
machine
learning.
Beyer
can
only
take
about
one
class
a
semester,
as
he
balances
voting
on
the
floor,
working
on
legislation
and
fundraising
with
getting
his
coding
homework
done.
But
the
classes
are
already
providing
benefits.
“With
every
additional
course
I
take,
I
think
I
have
a
better
understanding
of
how
the
actual
coding
works,”
he
recently
told
CNBC.
“What
it
means
to
have
big
datasets,
what
it
means
to
look
for
these
linkages
and
also,
perhaps,
what
it
means
to
have
unintended
consequences.”
Beyer
is
part
of
almost
every
group
of
House
lawmakers
working
on
AI.
He’s
vice
chair
for
both
the
bipartisan
Congressional
Artificial
Intelligence
Caucus
and
a
newer
AI
working
group
started
by
The
New
Democrat
Coalition,
the
largest
groups
of
centrist
Democrats
in
the
House.
He
was
also
a
member
of
former
Speaker
Kevin
McCarthy’s
working
group
on
AI,
which
could
be
resurrected
under
Speaker
Mike
Johnson.
On
the
legislative
side,
he’s
a
leader
on
a
bill
to
expand
access
to
high-powered
computational
tools
needed
to
develop
AI.
Crash
course
As
members
of
Congress
raced
to
get
themselves
up
to
speed
on
AI
this
fall
with
hearings,
forums
and
a
dinner
with
Open
AI
CEO
Sam
Altman,
Beyer
said
his
classroom
time
has
given
him
a
perspective
on
what
goes
on
under
the
hood.
He’s
also
learning
how
easy
it
can
be
for
a
small
mistake
to
have
a
major
impact
on
code.
Beyer
said
one
of
his
daughters,
who
is
also
a
coder,
sent
him
a
big
book
about
debugging
programs
that
was
“very,
very
long.”
“You
make
big
mistakes,
then
you
make
stupid
little
mistakes
that
take
you
hours
to
find.
And
you
realize
how
imperfect
any
technology
is,”
he
said.
“That’s
going
to
drive
a
lot
of
trying
to
defend
against
the
downside
risks
of
AI.”
Congress
is
grappling
with
how
to
move
forward
on
AI.
In
the
House,
Rep.
Jay
Obernolte,
R-Calif.,
who
served
on
McCarthy’s
AI
working
group
with
Beyer,
told
CNBC
he’s
spoken
briefly
with
Johnson,
R-La,
and
the
speaker
is
interested
in
getting
the
AI
group
started
again
soon,
after
more
pressing
battles
such
as
government
funding
are
over.
Obernolte
said
there
were
a
few
different
directions
the
House
could
head
in
on
AI,
including
enacting
digital
privacy
protections
for
consumers
or
deciding
whether
a
new
federal
agency
should
oversee
AI,
or
whether
each
currency
agency
should
handle
the
issue.
Obernolte,
who
has
a
masters
degree
in
artificial
intelligence,
said
there’s
no
shortage
of
smart
lawmakers
on
AI,
including
Beyer.
“Don
is
wonderful,
very
knowledgeable,
you
know,
really
has
a
passion
for
this
particular
issue,”
he
said.
‘Time
is
of
the
essence’
Another
issue
Congress
has
its
eye
on
is
the
ease
of
spreading
videos
and
photos
that
look
real
but
are
generated
by
AI
—
particularly
ones
showing
events
that
never
happened,
or
real
people
saying
things
they
never
actually
said,
which
could
ultimately
impact
elections.
Rep.
Derek
Kilmer,
D-Wash.,
who
chairs
the
New
Democrats’
AI
working
group,
said
the
2024
election
lends
fresh
urgency
to
figuring
out
how
to
minimize
the
impact
of
misleading
or
false
media.
“The
implications
for
the
spread
of
misinformation
for
the
integrity
of
our
public
discourse
or
democracy
is
significant,”
Kilmer
told
CNBC.
“And
that
is
driving
this
push.”
Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
D-N.Y.,
recently
said
“time
is
of
the
essence”
when
it
comes
to
dealing
with
AI-generated
videos
and
photos.
“It
may
be
the
thing
we
have
to
do
first,
when
it
comes
to
legislation
and
creating
guardrails
in
AI.”
Still,
Beyer
is
worried
Congress
won’t
move
quickly
enough
to
keep
up
with
the
rapid
pace
of
new
AI
models.
“What
we’re
trying
to
do
is
not
replicate
our
failures
on
social
media,
where
for
20-plus
years
we’ve
not
regulated
at
all,”
said
Beyer.
“Social
media
has
had
wonderful
positive
effects,
but
also
some
pretty
scary
downsides
to
misinformation,
disinformation.”
Beyer
acknowledged
that
due
to
fights
over
spending
and
the
House
speaker’s
gavel,
it
wasn’t
likely
Congress
would
be
able
to
pass
AI
legislation
this
year.
But
he’s
hopeful
something
can
move
next
year,
ahead
of
the
2024
election.
