A working group of U.S. Senators released a policy roadmap this week that identifies on key priorities in the realm of artificial intelligence (“AI”). The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group’s report – which was informed by a series of closed-door AI insight forums held this fall by the Senator Chuck Schumer-led group – focuses on eight AI-specific policy priorities for federal government committees to consider, including: (1) supporting U.S. innovation in AI, (2) AI and the workforce, (3) high-impact uses of AI, (4) elections and democracy, (5) privacy and liability, (6) transparency, explainability, intellectual property, and copyright, (7) safeguarding against AI risks, and (8) national security.
With regard to “intellectual property” – and right of publicity – in particular, the AI Working Group says that it encourages the relevant committees to …
> “Consider federal policy issues related to the data sets used by AI developers to train their models, including data sets that might contain sensitive personal data or are protected by copyright, and evaluate whether there is a need for transparency requirements.”
> “Consider whether there is a need for legislation that protects against the unauthorized use of one’s name, image, likeness, and voice, consistent with First Amendment principles, as it relates to AI. Legislation in this area should consider the impacts of novel synthetic content on professional content creators of digital media, victims of non-consensual distribution of intimate images, victims of fraud, and other individuals or entities that are negatively affected by the widespread availability of synthetic content.”
> “Review the results of existing and forthcoming reports from the U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on how AI impacts copyright and intellectual property law, and take action as deemed appropriate to ensure the U.S. continues to lead the world on this front.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Schumer spoke on the Senate floor about the release of the roadmap, saying, in part, “We have to deal with the creative community and intellectual property. So, we need innovation in these areas [and] to make sure that the liabilities of AI are dealt with.”
The long-awaited policy roadmap is relatively light on specifics, and certainly does not propose any specific regulation in connection with the key focus areas – it leaves that to the relevant Senate subcommittees. “Whether comprehensive AI legislation will be implemented in a matter of years, if at all, is anybody’s guess,” Mintz’s Bruce Sokler, Alexander Hecht, Christian Tamotsu Fjeld, and Raj Gambhir stated in a note. However, what can be gleaned from the roadmap is “a telling glimpse into the current perspective of congressional leaders on AI,” with intellectual property clearly being one of them.