US Senator Bernie Sanders, representing the state of Vermont, is one of the most active figures in combating the potential harms of artificial intelligence. As part of his latest initiative, the politician has proposed introducing a penalty of up to 20 years in prison for those who develop 'super-high artificial intelligence.'
This bill is called the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act and was recently introduced by Sanders together with Representative Greg Casar. Super-high artificial intelligence (ASI) is an AI technology capable of surpassing humans across a wide range of tasks, not just in narrowly specialized fields.
Sanders and Casar suggest that ASI could reach such a high level of complexity that it could perform actions outside of human control. Such actions include developing biological weapons without safety measures or creating self-improvement mechanisms that ignore shutdown commands.
To prevent this scenario from materializing, Sanders and Casar advocate for regulation that prohibits the development of AI systems without applying strict risk control mechanisms to these projects.
A 20-year prison term would be assigned to developers or organizational leaders involved in ASI projects that fail to adhere to mandatory protective measures. USA Today notes that this is a very severe punishment, comparable to sentences for illegal nuclear weapons production.
Thus, the bill aims to be stringent enough to halt the uncontrolled development of AI technologies. Furthermore, the project provides for the temporary suspension of advanced AI system development, the creation of an American agency to monitor such technologies, and the establishment of international agreements so that ASI is not developed in other countries.
However, the likelihood of this bill being passed, at least with the proposed degree of severity, is low. Among the reasons for this are concerns from the US government regarding maintaining leadership in AI technology development. The US likely does not want China to take this position.
Bernie Sanders is probably aware of this. Nevertheless, he has succeeded in one aspect: drawing public attention to the 'dark side' of artificial intelligence. It is also worth mentioning that several months ago, Sanders proposed a sovereign fund based on AI company stocks to distribute $1000 annually to every American citizen. This bill was presented after another senatorial initiative—the transfer of 50% of AI company capital to the American people.