Artificial intelligence advances are coming fast, and so are the regulatory proposals. While innovators think of new ways to improve lives with AI, politicians are looking for ways to entrench special interests at everyone else’s expense.
A case study is a bill in New York, introduced by two Democratic state legislators and backed by unions, that would regulate the way the “news media” can use artificial intelligence. The aim is to shackle media companies so they can’t adapt to technological change, thereby protecting their current employees.
The proposed legislation defines news media to include “any publication or programming, regardless of the medium or method of distribution, that provides news, weather, traffic, sports, or entertainment.” Playing on fears of AI, it requires companies to “fully disclose to workers when and how any generative artificial intelligence tool is used in the workplace.” That’s the least onerous requirement because it would simply force companies to generate more paperwork.
Next it orders them to “conspicuously imprint on the top of the page, webpage, image, graphic, video or other visual or audio/visual content” if it was “substantially created” by generative AI. Government orders that publishers “conspicuously imprint” anything should offend the sensibilities of any journalist. The provision also likely violates the First Amendment.
Then the bill smuggles in its truly radical objective. “The use of generative artificial intelligence systems shall not result in” the “discharge” or “displacement” of workers, the legislation says — or in “the transfer of existing duties and functions previously performed by employees.” That would effectively ban media and entertainment companies from taking advantage of the new technology in any way. Even if AI can make certain tasks more efficient, thereby reducing the need for certain kinds of labor and increasing the need for other kinds, companies would need to calcify their workforces.
This bill would destroy New York’s status as the country’s media capital. Making news or entertainment there would simply become so much more costly than in other states that companies would have to leave. The radicalism of the bill is a reason it likely won’t pass, but beware anyone else trying to leverage anxiety about AI to try to carve out special government advantages.
The post Progressives for news media regulation appeared first on Washington Post.
