State AGs send letter to Congress urging AI protection legislation for kids

AI kids protection letter overview: 

• Who: Attorneys general from 50 states and four U.S. territories sent a letter to Congress on Sept. 5. 
• Why: The attorneys general urged Congress to establish an expert commission to study how artificial intelligence can be used to exploit children.
• Where: Nationwide.

The attorneys general from 50 states and four U.S. territories sent a letter to Congress earlier this week that requested an expert commission be established to study how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to exploit kids. 

The expert commission would specifically study how AI can be used to exploit children through the generation of child sex abuse material and create solutions for how to “deter and address such exploitations,” according to the AI kids protection letter. 

The attorneys general — which are led by those from Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Oregon — also urged Congress to expand restrictions on child sex abuse material based on what the proposed commission finds. 

“We are engaged in a race against time to protect the children of our country from the dangers of AI,” the letter states. “Indeed, the proverbial walls of the city have already been breached. Now is the time to act.”

AI becoming increasingly capable of being used to exploit kids, attorneys general warn 

The attorneys general noted how Congress has “committed itself” to studying AI technology in recent months, in addition to beginning to develop regulatory frameworks for home to address potential harms. 

“While we commend Congress for these initial efforts, we write to highlight an underreported and understudied aspect of the AI problem — namely, the exploitation of children through AI technology,” the letter states. 

The attorneys general warned that AI is becoming increasingly capable of being able to exploit children in “innumerable ways,” including by identifying an individual’s location, mimicking their voice and generating deep fakes. 

The letter was specifically addressed to U.S. Senate President Patty Murray, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. 

“While we know Congress is aware of concerns surrounding AI, and legislation has been recently proposed at both the state and federal level to regulate AI generally, much of the focus has been on national security and education concerns,” the attorneys general wrote. 

In other news involving the federal government and AI, the Biden administration announced a competition last month called the AI Cyber Competition that will challenge teams to use AI as a means to fix software vulnerabilities. 

Are you concerned that AI technology could be used to exploit children? Let us know in the comments.

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