Artificial intelligence made its way onto the third and final debate of California’s U.S. Senate race Tuesday evening, where the four leading candidates met ahead of the March 5 primary.
All four candidates — Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of Burbank, Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland as well as Republican ex-Dodger Steve Garvey — concurred that AI should be regulated, but they differed on the reasons why.
AI, “technology that enables computers and digital devices to learn, read, write, talk, see, create, play, analyze, make recommendations and do other things humans do,” according to tech company IBM, has California voters worried this election cycle. Just over five in 10 said they are concerned about their jobs being replaced by AI, according to a December survey by Politico and Morning Consult.
Schiff, during Tuesday’s debate, focused on how AI should be regulated to protect workers. He pointed to the Hollywood strikes over the summer, when Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers’ Guild of America members walked out over a number of concerns, including a lack of guardrails against AI taking over writers’ work.
“I was proud to be out there on the picket lines making sure that in these contracts for so many of the workers in the entertainment industry … had protections against AI, potential threat to their jobs,” said Schiff. “We need to also address these changes in the workplace in the light of these new technologies to make sure workers are protected.”
Schiff, when asked in the Register’s Voter Guide questionnaire what he sees as the federal government’s role in creating and enforcing a regulatory framework, said he supports “a high-level agency that is able to act nimbly and put adequate safeguards in place as the technology evolves.”
Lee, who is positioning herself as the more progressive candidate in the race, focused on the nasty side of AI:…
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