CDT and Civil Society Partners Urge Congress to Protect Artists, Creators, and Free Expression as it Examines Possible Misuse of AI Technologies
On February 1, 2024, CDT joined EFF, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, TechFreedom, Fight for the Future, and R Street Institute sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee praising the Committee’s examination of ways to maximize AI’s benefits while minimizing harms to artists, creators, and the general public. We also raised concerns with two pieces of legislation before Congress that are intended to protect artists and creators, but in practice would have widespread consequences for the communities it seeks to protect and for free expression in general. We look forward to working with policymakers as they continue to examine AI and its benefits and impacts.
From the letter:
We applaud Congress for its desire to protect consumers and creators. Unfortunately, the No AI FRAUD Act and NO FAKES Act would make the situation worse rather than better. Congress should carefully consider how existing laws can solve potential threats from emerging technologies and fill any gaps through narrowly tailored solutions that preserve free expression online and are consistent with the Constitution.
Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union
Center for Democracy & Technology
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Fight for the Future
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
Coalition Urges Senate Not to Let Companies Waive Financial Regulations for AI
CDT joined AI Now Institute, American Civil Liberties Union, and several organizations dedicated to tech policy, consumer protection, and civil rights in a letter to Senate leadership and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee opposing the “AI Innovation Labs” language in Sec. 10509 of the CLARITY Act.
As concern about risks and harms related to AI systems continue to grow, a growing chorus of policymakers, industry leaders, and advocates have called for independent AI assessments. This explainer provides an overview of recent proposals for third-party assessment in the United States, including state and federal legislation, executive actions, and industry proposals.
Having third parties assess AI systems might seem like common sense, but crafting effective policies toward this goal can be devilishly tricky. A poorly-constructed ecosystem for third-party assessment could easily fail to consider the most consequential mechanisms of risk, neglect the AI harms that most impact people, or do more to protect AI companies than people.
Not All Guardrails Are Created Equal: Comparing Content Safety and Copyright Filtering
As courts and policymakers work through questions about chatbot liability, they should be wary of analogies that flatten meaningful technical differences. Copyright filtering and safety intervention share real challenges around ambiguity and evasion, but they diverge in what each control must assess, how each manifests over the course of a conversation, and how much can be verified from the outside.
