Global Courant
House lawmakers are urging federal agencies to adopt artificial intelligence technology quickly and aggressively, at a time when pressure from civil rights and industry groups for new AI regulations is still waiting to take off.
The House Appropriations Committee, led by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, released several bills this week encouraging the government to incorporate AI into everything from national security functions to routine office work to the detection of pests and diseases in crops. Several of those priorities are not only encouraged but would receive millions of dollars in new funding under legislation still pending in committee.
And while comprehensive AI regulation is likely months away and unlikely to be developed this year, lawmakers seem keen to ensure that the government deploys AI where it can. The bills are backed by the GOP majority, and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., the vice chairman of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus, said agencies shouldn’t wait to start using AI.
“We must support federal agencies leveraging the power and benefits of AI as it has proven to be a powerful tool and will continue to be an invaluable asset to our federal agencies,” he told Fox News Digital. “For example, the Departments of Energy and Defense are using AI for engineering projects to improve precision and perform tasks beyond human capabilities.”
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R-Texas Center Chairman Kay Granger has been working to move bills that would encourage the government to deploy AI systems to help them do their jobs better. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Beyer added that he is “encouraged” by commitments made by some agencies to ensure AI is used ethically, such as those made by the Department of Defense and intelligence agencies.
The spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security includes language that would fund AI and machine learning capabilities to help assess cargo shipments in U.S. ports and for port inspections.
“As the committee has previously noted, delays in integrating artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomy into the program require CBP officers to manually review thousands of images to hunt for anomalies,” the report text on the bill said. “Automation reduces the chance of narcotics and other contraband being missed and increases the ban on narcotics passing through the country’s ports of entry.”
The bill encourages DHS to use “commercial, off-the-shelf artificial intelligence capabilities” to enhance government efforts to capture travelers and cargo that are prohibited from entering the United States. It also calls on DHS to investigate the use of AI to enforce the border, to ensure proper illegal immigrant removal, and to the Transportation Security Agency.
The committee’s bill to fund the Department of Defense warns that the Pentagon is not moving fast enough to adopt AI technologies.
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Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia, told Fox News Digital that federal agencies need access to AI technology, saying he was encouraged by some of the ethical principles some agencies have developed. Photographer: Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Capabilities such as automation, artificial intelligence and other new business practices — which are easily adopted by the private sector — are often ignored or underutilized in the ministry’s business operations,” the report said. “This bill takes aggressive steps to address this problem.”
Among other things, the bill wants DOD to explore how AI can be used to “significantly reduce or eliminate manual processes across the department,” saying that effort justifies a $1 billion cut in civil defense personnel.
The bill also wants DOD to report on how it can measure its efforts to adopt AI and hire more AI-experienced interns.
Financing the Spending Bill Congress itself wants legislative staff to explore how AI can be used to create captioning services for hearings, and how AI can be used differently to improve House operations.
House legislators also see a need for AI in the Department of Agriculture. Among other things, the bill adds more money to AI in a U.S.-Israel agricultural research program, proposes the use of AI and machine learning to track pests and diseases in crops, and supports ongoing work to use AI for “precision farming.” “. and the safety of the food system.”
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., says it will be months before he starts getting stakeholder input on new AI rules. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The effort to expand government use of AI comes despite pressure on Congress to quickly enforce a regulatory framework around this emerging and already widely used technology. Lawmakers in the House and Senate have held several hearings on the issue, which have advanced ideas including a new federal agency to regulate AI and an AI commission.
But despite the urgency, Congress continues to move slowly. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said last week he wanted to take several more months to get input, implying that an AI regulatory plan could not be passed by Congress until next year.
“Later this fall, I will convene the top artificial intelligence leaders here in Congress for a series of AI Insight Forums to help build a new foundation for AI policy,” he said last week.
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The full committee is expected to consider these and other spending bills in the coming months — Republicans have made it clear they want to move the fiscal 2024 funding bills in time this year, meaning they should be ready by the summer.
Pete Kasperowicz is a political editor at Fox News Digital.
