{"id":28110,"date":"2023-12-07T19:15:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T19:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/12\/07\/democrats-and-republicans-see-role-for-government-in-development-of-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:06:31","slug":"democrats-and-republicans-see-role-for-government-in-development-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2023\/12\/07\/democrats-and-republicans-see-role-for-government-in-development-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats and Republicans see role for government in development of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. government should have a leading role in the development and governance of artificial intelligence, as it has done in the past with technologies including the internet<\/a>, GPS<\/a> and mapping the human genome<\/a>, House Republicans and Democrats said in a rare example of bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What action to take, and how quickly to act, is where the two sides find less agreement, though not necessarily along the traditional lines between government and free markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration is moving rapidly<\/a> to regulate AI via an executive order<\/a> and pending follow-up regulations<\/a>, a research strategic plan, a risk-management framework, a list of competencies for job seekers and a blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. Critics say such regulatory actions may stifle the deployment of a promising technology that could transform the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a hearing<\/a> of the Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation panel of the House Oversight committee on Wednesday, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., argued that while the government is often labeled risk-averse and bureaucratic, sometimes that narrative is \u201creally skewed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to acknowledge that the federal government has done some spectacular things,\u201d he said. \u201cWe would not have the internet but for what was called ARPANET for 25 years \u2014 a 100% federally funded R&D project. We would not have mapped the human genome without 100% federally funded research projects, which is going to transform medicine. We would not have GPS, which is now universal. We wouldn\u2019t have radar. There\u2019s a whole string.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As AI expands, agencies have begun identifying ways the technology can make government work more efficient or accurate. Raj Iyer, former chief information officer of the U.S. Army and now head of global public sector at ServiceNow, said in a statement issued after the hearing ended that nearly every new contract signed by the federal government in 2024 will likely have a generative AI component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel Hammond, a senior economist for the Foundation for American Innovation, testified that progress in AI is accelerating so quickly that the current forecast for an intelligence system that can match, or outperform, a human is as soon as 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\t