The administration of President Donald Trump again signaled to enterprises and everyday citizens the importance it places on AI and the need to govern the technology in some ways, with the release on Friday of a new National AI Legislative Framework.
The document addresses some of the challenges Americans have been facing with AI technology. One objective is to provide parents with tools to manage their children’s digital environment, including account controls. The administration said AI platforms accessed by minors should have features that reduce the potential sexual exploitation of children. Another objective is to have data centers generate power on-site, so Americans are not footing the bill for the large data centers. The administration asked Congress to remove what it calls “outdated or unnecessary barriers” to innovation, so that AI deployment can accelerate across all industries. Finally, the administration called on Congress to develop workforce and skills-training programs and to create new jobs in the AI-powered economy.
The framework is another move by the Trump administration to show AI vendors and enterprises that want to help them succeed and win the AI race, and that the best way to do so is to have control over how the technology is governed. The document also addresses some concerns Americans have about AI, such as large data centers causing large electric bills and AI models going rogue and undressing women or even allegedly encouraging the suicide of minors and others.
A Reinforcement
With the framework, the administration reiterated Trump’s longstanding position on AI technology, insisting on dealing with it without input from individual states, a stance it tried to enforce when the President signed an executive order in December limiting state-level regulation of AI.
“It’s just a restatement … a repetition and a doubling down on that desire as the White House would probably put it to avoid a morass or a thicket of state and municipal approaches to governing AI,” said Michael Bennett, associate vice chancellor for data science and AI strategy at University of Illinois Chicago.
He added that it’s no surprise the framework comes at a time when some primary election results are coming in. Strong Democratic Party showings signal potential Democratic successes in the midterm elections in some electoral districts. The White House is effectively saying it understands voters’ concerns about AI and plans to alleviate them, Bennett said.
“Now, whether the plan is sensible, whether it’s going to be effective or not, that’s something for voters to determine on their own,” he said.
The administration’s move is also a way to communicate to enterprises using and developing AI, and providing AI services, that they would be better off with a “single overarching set of principles governing AI and emanating from the federal government as opposed to disparate laws coming from the states,” Bennett added.
States Likely to Respond
However, the framework is likely to face pushback from states such as Illinois, Colorado, California, and New York that have passed AI laws or are considering them, he said.
“They’re not in favor of a laissez-faire approach to regulating,” he continued. “They would have effectively said that it’s really important for them to take the lead, and in some instances, pass laws that are significantly stronger than what would likely pass at the federal level.”
A key issue the White House document highlights is that the question of AI data centers and AI, and how to regulate them, will be front and center during the midterm elections, Bennett added.
