AI Is a Threat to Everything the American People Hold Dear - Bernie Sanders WSJ op-ed [View all]

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At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, people recognize the AI revolution is being led by some of the wealthiest people in this country. Billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison are investing enormous sums in AI and robotics not to improve life for working families but to expand their own wealth and power. How can we rush forward when AI could displace tens of millions of workers? Elon Musk has stated that “AI and robots will replace all jobs.” Bill Gates has said humans won’t be needed “for most things.” If machines can perform most economically valuable work better than humans can, how do people earn a living and support their families?

It isn’t only the economy. How can we rush forward when AI is already reshaping how we as human beings relate to one another? According to a recent poll by Common Sense Media, 72% of U.S. teenagers say they have used AI companions, and more than half do so regularly. What does it mean for young people to form “friendships” with AI while becoming lonelier and more isolated from other human beings?

How can we rush forward when AI threatens our privacy as we know it? For decades, companies have been collecting our personal information. AI now makes it possible to analyze that information at unprecedented speed and scale. Larry Ellison predicts an AI-powered surveillance state in which “citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on.”

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We can’t allow a handful of billionaires, eager to increase their wealth and power, to rush forward with a technology that will fundamentally transform humanity without democratic input or accountability. Congress must act. That is why I have introduced legislation, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to impose a federal moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers until strong national safeguards are in place.

A moratorium will give us time to ensure AI is safe and effective, time to protect our privacy and well-being, time to defend our democracy, and time to make sure the economic gains of this technology benefit the general population, not just a handful of billionaires. The future of AI must be decided by the American people.

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