- Rep. Don Beyer, 73, is working on a master’s degree in machine learning at George Mason University.
- Congress is grappling with how to move forward with artificial intelligence.
- “What we’re trying to do is not replicate our failures on social media,” said Beyer, D-Virginia.
Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Don Beyer is not your average student at George Mason University. He is 73 years old. Prefers a notebook and pen to a laptop for taking notes. And he’s a top AI policymaker in Congress.
The Virginia Democrat found artificial intelligence fascinating, but the breakthrough came when he realized he could enroll in computer science classes at George Mason University. So he signed up, starting with the prerequisite courses that would eventually lead him to a master’s degree in machine learning.
Beyer can only take one class a semester as he balances floor voting, legislation and fundraising with doing his coding work. But the courses are already providing benefits.
“With each additional class I take, I think I understand better how real coding works,” he told CNBC recently. “What it means to have large data sets, what it means to look for those connections, and also, perhaps, what it means to have unintended consequences.”
Beyer is part of nearly every House lawmaker’s group working on artificial intelligence. He is vice chairman of both the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Artificial Intelligence and a newer artificial intelligence task force launched by the Coalition of Young Democrats, the largest centrist Democratic groups in the House.
He was also a member of former President Kevin McCarthy’s task force on artificial intelligence, which could be resurrected under President Mike Johnson. On the legislative side, he is a leader in a bill to expand access to high-powered computing tools needed for AI development;.
As members of Congress raced to accelerate AI this fall with hearings, forums and a dinner with Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Beyer said his time in the classroom has given him perspective on what’s going on under the hood.
He also learns how easy it can be for a small mistake to have a major impact on the code. Beyer said one of his daughters, who is also a coder, sent him a large book on debugging programs that was “very, very long.”
“You make big mistakes, then you make silly little mistakes that take you hours to figure out. And you realize how imperfect any technology is,” he said. “This will lead to many efforts to defend against the negative risks of artificial intelligence.”
Congress is grappling with how to move forward with artificial intelligence.
In the House, Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., who served on McCarthy’s AI task force with Beyer, told CNBC he spoke briefly with Johnson, R-La., and the speaker is interested in getting the group started again AI soon. after more pressing battles such as government funding are over.
Obernolte said there are a few different directions the House could take on AI, including enacting digital privacy protections for consumers or deciding whether a new federal agency should oversee AI or whether each monetary agency would should handle the issue.
Obernolte, who has a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, said there is no shortage of AI-savvy lawmakers, including Beyer.
“Don’s great, very knowledgeable, you know, really passionate about this particular subject,” she said.
Another issue Congress is dealing with is the ease of spreading videos and photos that look real but are created by artificial intelligence — particularly those that show events that never happened or real people saying things they didn’t actually say, which would could ultimately influence the election.
Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., who chairs the New Democrats’ AI task force, said the 2024 election lends new urgency to figuring out how to minimize the impact of misleading or false media.
“The implications for the spread of misinformation for the integrity of public discourse or our democracy are significant,” Kilmer told CNBC. “And that’s driving that push.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., recently said that “time is of the essence” when it comes to AI-generated videos and photos. “It might be the thing we need to do first, in terms of legislation and building AI guardrails.”
But Beyer worries that Congress won’t move quickly enough to keep up with the rapid pace of new AI models.
“What we’re trying to do is not replicate our failures in social media, where for 20-plus years we haven’t regulated at all,” Beyer said. “Social media has had wonderful positives, but also some pretty scary downsides in misinformation, misinformation.”
Beyer acknowledged that because of spending battles and the House speaker’s back-and-forth, it wasn’t likely that Congress would be able to pass AI legislation this year. But he hopes something can move next year, ahead of the 2024 election.