The political tipsheet Axios reports this week that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has taken the first steps toward legislation to regulate the use of artificial intelligence, circulating a general framework for new rules among academic, industry and government AI experts. The U.S. Commerce Department, the Copyright Office, the Patent and Trademark Office and other government agencies have taken preliminary steps toward possible regulatory action on AI within their respective domains, but the recent movement in the Senate is the first indication that broader legislative action could be in the works.
As the twenty-first century becomes increasingly automated, attempts to pinpoint where human agency exists in a technologically mediated process grow more frantic. Images generated with artificial intelligence by companies like OpenAI and Stablilty.ai are spurring questions remarkably like those that emerged with the advent of the photograph.
AI is changing creativity, business, and society—while changing the intersections of these as well. But it isn’t here to replace us. Generative AI tools are not artists; rather, they are creative factories. This isn’t a story where computers replace our ideas. This is more like the industrial revolution for creativity. With these tools, creative efficiency is set to multiply astronomically.
