Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna says Congress needs to act to protect workers from AI
WASHINGTON – A Bay Area member of Congress said regulation is needed on artificial intelligence, in the wake of headlines made by actor Scarlett Johannson accusing OpenAI of using her voice in the latest version of ChatGPT.
"Those laws need to say you can't take someone's voice and recreate it without their explicit consent, you can't take their data without their consent," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-San Jose) said to CBS News Bay Area on proposing new legislation to protect actors and anyone else who has their identity used with prior consent.
The 17th Congressional District covers much of the South Bay and Silicon Valley and the congressman said he is proud that the region he represents is leading the way in the innovation of artificial intelligence.
Khanna said he wants to champion the parts of AI that will make life better for Americans and help various fields become more efficient or effective. But he remains a strong critic of the use of that technology which threatens the misuse of someone's identity and takes away jobs.
"Well I think if it's left untouched what we're going to see is massive wealth accumulation in the hands of a few," he said in an interview this week. "You may see new jobs but those jobs will be not for the ones who are losing their jobs, so if truck drivers and screenwriters are losing their jobs and there are new jobs that manage the creation of AI that doesn't wash."
Khanna said he supports the creation of a federal AI regulatory agency and believes there is interest in both the U.S. House and the Senate in favor of such a move. But he does not anticipate anything passing to take the country in that direction until after the November election.