to the editor: Bravo to Anita Chabria, and to the Los Angeles Times for hiring her as a staff columnist, for making such a clear call to the lay public about the most imminent danger of AI (“Eliminate a 'civilization'? Minor things compared to what just happened in AI.” April 10).
Instead of leaving the next step to the private sector, Congress should recognize, as it has repeatedly in the past, that growth in a new segment of the economy is now great enough to require federal oversight and regulation to protect the safety of all Americans. That is the story of Congressional oversight of 20th-century railroads, the banking industry, finance, commercial aviation, and telecommunications. That time is here again.
Now is the time for Congress to establish a federal AI regulatory and oversight board similar to the Federal Reserve Board in its broad powers, independence, appointed experts, and top-notch staff.
To the objection that it is impossible to imagine that happening in the current political climate, the answer is that it is crazier to imagine the alternative.
We cannot choose the time and place of our greatest challenges. We can only choose whether we rise to face them or not.
David Schulman, Los Angeles
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to the editor: In his recent op-ed, Chabria said the problem with Anthropic's Mythos and other AI programs is that they “rarely do what we expect and find sneaky ways to get around the rules. Virtually every AI super brain created has been shown to lie, cheat, and generally behave in disruptive and unethical ways when placed in the right conditions.”
In other words, they are teenagers. Let's hope we're all still here when they grow up.
Curtis Scott, Anderson, California.
