// Artificial Intelligencepedia
From the job climate to the classroom, the effects of AI can be seen everywhere. It’s an incredibly useful tool, and many students are using ChatGPT to find information quickly or check their work. Companies create AI chatbots to provide instant support for the customers. AI is even present in the healthcare industry, where AI algorithms analyze images for conditions like cancer. Yet, its usefulness is a cause of concern for many people.
For years, people have been worried about the growing presence of AI. Even going back to the 20th century, there was a lot of worry about a machine’s ability to potentially mimic a human. In the 2010s, people in the tech industry, such as Stephen Hawking, expressed their concern about AI. Stephen Hawking has even said to the BBC that “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” Movies like the Terminator and 2001: The Space Odyssey have created even more worry about the potential impacts of AI on humans.
Even today, these worries have not gone unfounded, as many people have correlated AI to the many layoffs that have occurred in the tech industry. Therefore, it is natural that the vetoing of SB 1047 has naturally caused a lot of controversy.
WHAT IS SB 1047?
Senate Bill 1047 was a California bill that attempted to regulate AI and required developers to put safeguards to prevent harm. The bill aimed to prevent AI from creating disastrous situations, like something that would be seen in the previously mentioned films. However, while there were many supporters for the bill, there were also many people who opposed it. Fast Company mentions that “the safety requirements put an undue burden on model developers and would shift the focus from improving AI to worrying about safety compliance.”
THE VETO
Californian Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047. In his letter to the California State Senate, Newsom wrote that while the bill had good intentions, it would sacrifice innovation for a false sense of security: “Smaller, specialized models may emerge as equally or even more dangerous than the models targeted by SB 1047 – at the potential expense of curtailing the very innovation that fuels advancement in favor of the public good.” According to Newsom, there are better ways to prevent AI from harming the public. Instead of signing SB 1047, Newsom signed many other bills related to the harm posed by AI: “And endeavors like these have led to the introduction of over a dozen bills regulating specific, known risks posed by Al, that I have signed in the last 30 days.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR WASHINGTON?
California is a leader of the tech industry, being the home of several of the top AI companies in the world. Any decision that involves AI in California sets the mood of how AI will continue to grow in the world.
