Artificial intelligence is here to stay. This technology is both exciting and disruptive, offering advancements that could empower people, expand worker productivity, and grow the US economy. We need to ensure America leads in developing standards and deploying this emerging technology. A critical first step toward achieving AI leadership is passing a national data privacy standard.
Unlocking the potential of AI could radically improve every sector of our economy. In the energy industry, AI tools have the potential to deliver affordable, reliable energy to Americans faster and more efficiently. It also can reduce risks to our electric grid—by improving wildfire prediction modeling—and help reduce carbon and other emissions.
In telecommunications, AI technology will enhance the performance of next-generation communications networks and improve internet speeds. In the health sector, AI is already helping to improve diagnostics that will save millions of lives.
Data powers all of these new tools. The more information companies can feed into their machine learning systems, the smarter those systems can become. Yet a lack of transparency into AI systems and the data used to train them raises serious concerns about how they operate and where they might potentially be abused.
Used nefariously, AI could enable cybercriminals to develop potent threats to our critical infrastructure, or create deepfake AI content to scam people out of their money or personal information—in addition to other harmful and illegal activities.
AI could expand the power of companies and governments to surveil, track, and build profiles on US consumers and online users. These profiles could then be used to manipulate human behavior in ways that are difficult to resist or even detect. AI tools also might be exploited by geopolitical adversaries to spy on Americans and influence national opinion.
Guarding against these risks while still enabling America to reap the benefits of AI will be one of the key challenges of our time. Achieving this balance will require a deliberate approach to AI. A national data privacy standard must be the first step. Establishing comprehensive protections on the collection, processing, transfer, and storage of our data should be foundational to AI regulation in Congress.
Read more: Data Protection Leaders Differ on Powers of New US Privacy Law
Last year, the Energy and Commerce Committee worked in bipartisan fashion to advance comprehensive data privacy and security legislation, which passed out of the committee with near unanimous support. We’re building on that momentum this Congress. We continue to work toward legislation that would implement the most robust privacy protections to date in the US, putting people back in control of their data.
Our efforts include a series of hearings currently underway to discuss how AI tools can strengthen US competitiveness across every sector of the economy. Conversations also address how sensible data privacy and security safeguards are a foundational step to unlock the potential of this new technology.
This effort will inform our work to strike an appropriate balance that gives businesses flexibility to remain agile as they develop these cutting-edge technologies, while ensuring responsible use of AI.
Our national privacy standard would restrict how companies collect, store, and sell sensitive information; regulate the use of profiles on people to track, predict, and manipulate behavior for profit; and prevent data practices that harm children by making it illegal to track information for and target advertising to youth.
Many people already widely distrust how big tech companies collect and share user data, and a majority of Americans want more control over how their data is used. Many agree the government should do more to address how companies handle data privacy issues, in a substantial shift from a decade ago.
AI’s promise is an explosion of productivity and the realization of long-held goals such as affordable energy, better health care, and an improved standard of living. As companies begin integrating AI features and tools into their business practices, it’s vital that Congress act to put people back in control of the online information that can be used to feed machine learning.
The best way to achieve this is through a national data privacy and security standard. By setting clear rules of the road that promote innovation, strengthen protections for people’s data privacy and security, and ensure companies are assessing the safety of their algorithms as AI is deployed, the US will continue to lead on this revolutionary technology.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.
Author Information
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) represents Washington’s fifth congressional district. She is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and leads the committee’s AI and data privacy efforts.
Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) represents California’s 23rd congressional district. He co-chairs the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus and spent 30 years running his own video game development company.
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