As the AI market continues to evolve, leaders like Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, Microsoft's Brad Smith, and OpenAI's Sam Altman are advocating for AI regulation. Surprisingly, this support for regulation isn't counterproductive for tech companies; instead, it serves several vital purposes.
Regulation offers companies stability, eliminates the risk of future bans on their AI products, and provides a unified set of rules. Additionally, companies want to shape regulations to avoid excessive compliance costs. While progress is being made, crafting AI legislation in the US remains challenging.
AI firms, investing significant sums in their products, seek regulatory certainty to protect their investments from future bans or restrictions. Clear laws enable companies to plan for the long term without fearing unexpected legal hurdles.
A standardized set of AI regulations across states is preferable to a fragmented landscape with 50 different state-specific rules. Uniformity simplifies compliance and development, reducing costs for businesses.
Companies advocating for regulation aim to have a say in shaping the rules to ensure they are reasonable and cost-effective from their perspective. This involvement helps prevent overly burdensome regulations that could drive up compliance expenses.
While companies may not always embrace regulation enthusiastically, they appreciate knowing what to expect and how to adapt their processes for compliance. This predictability enhances planning and implementation.
Regulation offers consumers confidence that AI products are safe and meet established standards. Without regulation, customers must rely solely on company assurances, introducing uncertainty.
AI regulation can address various risks, including phone scams, financial services discrimination, and bias in systems used by the justice system and housing market. Unregulated AI models may lack incentives to address these concerns.
AI regulation is not insurmountable; Europe and China have already taken steps in this direction. The European Union proposed AI rules in April 2021, focusing on risk levels, banning specific AI applications, and introducing transparency requirements. China has issued guidelines requiring government review of AI algorithms on China-facing platforms.
In the US, discussions between lawmakers, the Biden administration, and major AI companies have begun. President Biden is expected to issue an executive order on AI soon. However, rapid progress is essential to keep pace with AI innovation.
Support from AI leaders for regulation is motivated by long-term stability, cost-effective compliance, and influencing the rule-making process. Regulation also provides consumers with confidence in AI product safety. While international precedents exist, the US must accelerate efforts to craft effective AI legislation.
