Lawmakers announce creation of bipartisan group on AI

A bipartisan group of lawmakers announced Thursday that they would be creating a “Working Group” on artificial intelligence (AI).

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, along with Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), announced the creation of the group.

The AI Working Group will explore how AI “is impacting the financial services and housing industries,” including how companies use the technology in decisionmaking, development of new products, fraud prevention, compliance and how it affects the workforce, the announcement said.

“I’m proud to announce the creation of this bipartisan artificial intelligence Working Group, as I’ve long called on both this Committee and Congress to move quickly to investigate the ways in which this technology may embed historic inequities in the financial services and housing markets through the use of data that reflect underlying bias or discrimination,” Waters said in the announcement.

The group will be led by Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) and ranking member Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.).

The group hopes to examine existing AI regulation and address how Congress can ensure new regulations can “consider both the potential benefits and risks associated with AI.”

Waters said she looks forward to building upon the work she established on the previous AI task force and is “eager to get together with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to examine the benefits and dangers of AI to ensure that this technology does not advance beyond our ability [to] regulate it, worsen existing inequities, and that consumers are properly protected from harm or abuse.”

McHenry said the group will work to educate members because the rapid advance of AI “holds immense promise to transform society and our economy for the better, but it also comes with risks.” He hopes to “chart a thoughtful course” for the future of AI in the country.

The creation of the group comes after President Biden signed a sweeping executive order in October that focuses on the emerging technology and managing its risks.