Lawmakers Introduce Slew of Standalone AI Bills
Summary
• Elections: On March 11, 2024, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Preparing Election Administrators for AI Act (S.3897) which requires the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), in consultation with NIST, to develop voluntary guidelines for election offices on the use and risks of AI in election administration, cybersecurity, information sharing about elections and the spread of election-related disinformation.
• Automated Decision Systems: On March 12, 2024, Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Chris DeLuzio (D-PA) introduced the No Robot Bosses Act (H.R. 7621), which aims to prohibit certain uses of automated decision systems by employers. A Senate companion has been introduced by Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI). This is the first bill that Rep. Bonamici has introduced since being named to the House AI Task Force in February.
• Tax: On March 15, 2024, Reps. Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Eric Burlison (R-MO) introduced the NO AI Audits Act (H.R. 7694), which would limit the use of AI at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and require tax investigations and examinations of taxpayers to be initiated by staff investigators.
• Privacy: On March 19, 2024, Sens. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) introduced the AI Consent Act (S. 3975), which directs online platforms to obtain consumers’ express informed consent before using their personal data to train AI models. Failure to do so would be considered a deceptive or unfair practice, and subject to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement. The bill also directs the FTC to study the efficacy of data de-identification given advances in AI tools.
• Misinformation: On March 21, 2024, Reps. Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) introduced the AI Plan Act (H.R. 7781), which would direct the development of a plan by the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security to counter malicious AI use by utilizing existing enforcement tools, deploying new cross-jurisdictional techniques and fostering innovation in AI and emerging technologies within the U.S.
• Identifying/Labeling AI-Generated Content: On March 21, 2024, Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Don Beyer (D-VA) and Valerie Foushee (D-NC) introduced the Protecting Consumers from Deceptive AI Act (H.R. 7766), which requires NIST to establish task forces to facilitate and inform the development of technical standards for identifying and labeling AI-generated content and require generative AI developers and online content platforms to provide disclosures on AI-generated content.
• Copyright: On April 9, 2024, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act (H.R. 7913), which would require a notice to be submitted to the Register of Copyrights before the release of a new generative AI system with regard to all copyrighted works used in building or altering the training dataset for that system. The bill’s requirements would also apply retroactively to previously released generative AI systems.
• Procurement: On March 22, 2024, Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Federal Improvement in Technology (FIT) Procurement Act (S.4066), which aims to streamline federal procurement procedures by removing outdated regulations, simplifying bidding processes, fostering private-public collaboration and enhancing training for acquisition professionals to manage technologies like AI effectively.
