Twenty-four members of Congress released their reports Wednesday on their work to develop a U.S. vision for responsible innovation in artificial intelligence that considers appropriate safeguards to guard against current and emerging threats.
With 66 key findings, lawmakers offered 89 recommendations to create a “carefully designed, sustainable policy framework” based on an approach they say balances innovation but can protect U.S. citizens from potential harm if widespread adoption occurs. of AI.
Far from Congress’ final word on AI issues, lawmakers said their findings and recommendations should be viewed as a tool for identifying and evaluating AI policy proposals in the future .
“It is unreasonable to expect Congress to pass legislation this year that could serve as the final word on AI policy,” the lawmakers said in the statement. report.
Instead, Congress should take an “agile approach that allows us to respond appropriately and in a targeted and actionable manner, taking advantage of all available evidence and information.”
Lawmakers must continue to learn about AI to “regularly assess the effectiveness of its policies and update them as AI technologies and their impacts evolve” if the United States is to lead the way. development of AI and drive a comprehensive vision of public policy on AI, they said. in the new plan.
The AI task force, launched in February, includes 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats led by co-chair Reps. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif. Lawmakers said in the 253-page report that they meet regularly to gather information on AI-related issues from more than 100 experts in the field from industry, government, civil society and of the academic world.
The overarching policy goals are to identify the novelty of AI-related problems, promote AI innovation, protect against AI-related risks and harms, hold government accountable for AI, affirm the use of a sectoral regulatory structure, adopt a progressive approach and keep humans at the center of AI policy, according to the report.
It offers recommendations for government use of AI; federal preemption of state law; data confidentiality; national security; research, development and standards; civil rights and civil liberties; education and workforce; intellectual property; content authenticity on open and closed AI systems; energy consumption and network reliability; and small businesses and specific sectors – agriculture, healthcare and financial services.
Lawmakers also said they support sector-specific policies for an agile, targeted approach to AI policy and leveraging sector-specific regulatory expertise within federal agencies and other parties of government to use their existing authority to respond to the use of AI in their areas.
“This would enable more informed and effective engagement between federal agencies and entities using AI,” the lawmakers said. “The agency’s expertise must remain focused where it can be most effective.”
In addition to supporting sector-specific regulation of AI, they call for increased federal investments in scientific research that enables innovations in AI hardware, algorithmic efficiency, energy technology development and energy infrastructure.
Regulators would also benefit from relying on a federal repository of AI resources, such as AI-ready data and hardware, lawmakers said. Thus, they declared continued investment in federal research and development.
“Congress will need to continue federal R&D efforts, supporting AI assessments and strengthening U.S. standardization efforts in AI,” the lawmakers said.
To protect civil rights, lawmakers recommended equipping industry regulators with “tools and expertise to address AI risks in their fields.”
For the healthcare sector, they recognized that AI technologies have the potential to improve multiple aspects of healthcare research, diagnosis and care delivery.
“AI can quickly analyze large data sets, improve diagnostic accuracy, streamline operations And automate routine tasksall of which have the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of treatment and reduce the burden on healthcare professionals, freeing up more time for patient care,” said the bipartisan task force on AI.
But the continued evolution of AI capabilities and its integration into critical health systems have also raised new policy questions, they warned.
“Some of the most important challenges relate to data availability and quality, incomplete or inaccurate responses, non-individualized recommendations, transparency of decisions, data privacy and cybersecurity, interoperability between existing systems and AI, liability for errors made or permitted by AI models and biased decision making as well as the deployment of these models in a way that favors financial gains over patient care and safety,” they said.
Their main conclusions for the health sector are:
- The use of AI in healthcare can potentially reduce administrative burdens and accelerate drug development and clinical diagnosis.
- The lack of ubiquitous and uniform standards for medical data and algorithms hinders system interoperability and data sharing.
Their recommendations for the health sector are:
- Encourage the practices necessary to ensuring the safety of AI in healthcaretransparent and efficient.
- Maintain strong support for AI-related healthcare research.
- Create incentives and guidance to encourage risk management of AI technologies in healthcare under various deployment conditions to support AI adoption and improve privacy, improve security and prevent disparate health outcomes.
- Support the development of standards for liability related to AI issues.
- Support appropriate payment mechanisms without stifling innovation.
The bipartisan Congressional AI Plan also includes a number of resources, including a comprehensive overview of federal AI research and development efforts, a list from the House AI Task Force encouraging lawmakers and future Congress to continue investigating 15 AI-related opportunities and challenges. , and an overview of the adoption and use of AI in various healthcare modalities.
Because rapid progress could transform the economy and national security, congressional leaders created a task force to develop a policy road map.
“Developing a bipartisan vision for AI adoption, innovation, and governance is no easy task, but it is a necessary one as we envision the future of AI and ensure it that Americans see real benefits from this technology,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement this week. .
“Members of the Bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Task Force have worked hard over the past year to develop a serious, sober and substantive report,” added Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “I am encouraged by the completion of the report and hope it will be informative for informed legislative action in the future.”
Andrea Fox is the editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
E-mail: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
