U.S. Congressman Beyer on AI challenges facing America and the World
U.S. Congressman Don Beyer returns to Practical AI for another far-reaching conversation with Chris about many of the most important AI challenges facing America and the world. Blending political savvy and statesmanship with his unique technical understanding as an active Ph.D student in AI at George Mason University (making him the coolest member of Congress!), the congressman shares his perspective about the really hard AI concerns that you would have asked him yourself. Together, Congressman Beyer and Chris explore AI regulation, cybersecurity concerns sparked by advanced models like Mythos, bipartisan AI governance efforts, and the growing AI race between the U.S. and China. They fearlessly dived headfirst into AI-driven job displacement, mass surveillance, autonomous weapons, existential risk, and the philosophical questions surrounding consciousness and superintelligence as AI continues to accelerate. This is an unusual and insightful conversation you don't want to miss!
Congressman Beyer was previously on Practical AI episode 271 on May 29, 2024:
AI in the U.S. Congress
Featuring:
Congressman Don Beyer – Congress, LinkedIn, Bluesky, X
Chris Benson – Website, LinkedIn, Bluesky, GitHub, X
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Can We Fire Gary Gensler? with Rep. Warren Davidson
Today's episode is with Representative Warren Davidson, an outspoken member of the U.S. Congress and an advocate for cryptocurrency.
In today's show, we cover: 1) Why is Rep. Warren Davidson trying to fire Gary Gensler? 2) What is the “SEC Stabilization Act?” 3) Is the U.S. losing ground to Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong? How can it catch up? 4) Does Congress care enough about crypto to do something about it? How can we change that?
As a reminder, Bankless is not a political podcast that divides on red/blue lines. We have no party affinity in the U.S. or any other nation. What we do care about is the values of decentralization, autonomy, and power to the people that underly this crypto technology. To the extent these values are political, so are we. But they don’t divide on party lines. We’ll continue to give voice to these values no matter what political party they come from.
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------ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro 5:25 #FireGaryGensler 10:36 Why Gary Hates Crypto 14:00 How Political Governance Works 23:20 Presidential Jurisdiction 25:45 SEC Stabilization Act 31:55 Does the U.S. Have Hope? 36:09 Closing & Disclaimers
------ RESOURCES https://twitter.com/WarrenDavidson/status/1674519201170485249 https://twitter.com/WarrenDavidson/status/1668305460368121857
------ Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
A Congressman Goes to A.I. School + How to Ban TikTok
Representative Don Beyer thinks artificial intelligence is “the most amazing technology since fire.” So what does it mean that most of Congress seems not to understand it? Then our colleague David McCabe discusses a bill that could dramatically expand the Biden administration’s power to ban TikTok.
Plus: what can the video game character Waluigi tell us about A.I. chatbots gone rogue?
On today’s episode:
Don Beyer is a U.S. representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.
David McCabe is a reporter at The New York Times covering technology policy.
Additional reading:
Lawmakers are trying to understand the technology behind A.I.
The White House is pushing Congress to regulate TikTok.
A number of countries are trying to ban TikTok.
The Waluigi effect is a theory about why chatbots behave erratically.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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