By adopting our analytic approach, U.S. policymakers + researchers can move away from rhetorical debates about AI governance & better prepare the United States for a range of possible AI futures cset.georgetown.edu/publication/...

Our work also demonstrates that policymakers & researchers alike can leverage assumptions to more precisely understand disagreements & shared views among stakeholders

Our case study demonstrates that policymakers can take action in an uncertain & rapidly changing environment by addressing common assumptions across proposals

We apply these questions to 5 US AI governance proposals from academia, industry, civil society, & the state & federal government & find that most proposals view AI-enabling talent & AI processes/frameworks as important enablers of AI governance

Assumptions that are shared across proposals are effectively enablers of the success of multiple proposals, whereas unique assumptions may indicate different perspectives or areas where consensus-building may be challenging

Our approach involves deriving unique & shared assumptions across proposals by answering 3 questions:

In other words, Congress is still in the early days of governing AI but so far seems more focused on understanding and harnessing AI’s potential than addressing its downsides. Make sure to take a deeper dive into our analysis here 🧵6/6 eto.tech/blog/ai-laws...

Fewer legislative docs directly tackle risks or undesirable consequences from AI (such as harm to infrastructure) than propose strategies such as government support, convening, or institution-building 🧵5/6

Very few enactments leverage performance requirements, pilots, new institutions, or other governance strategies that place concrete requirements on AI systems or represent investments in maturing or scaling up AI capabilities 🧵4/6

Most of Congress’s 147 enactments focus on commissioning studies of AI systems, assessing their impacts, providing support for AI-related activities, convening stakeholders, & developing additional AI-related governance docs 🧵3/6

We find that Congress has enacted many AI-related laws & provisions which are focused more on laying the groundwork to harness AI’s potential – often in nat'l sec contexts – than placing concrete demands on AI or directly tackling their specific, undesirable consequences 🧵2/6

Stay tuned for the second blog, which examines the governance strategies, risk-related concepts, and harms covered by this legislation! 🧵3/3

We find that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Congress has enacted many AI-related laws and provisions — most of which apply to military and public safety contexts 🧵2/3