The quandary over AI — and government's ability to channel it into productive, rather than destructive, forms — dominated the hearing Monday that provoked some ideas for action but even more worries about the future.
Sen. Harold Pope Jr., D-Albuquerque, called the rise of artificial intelligence "scary."
One person well-versed on the issue told lawmakers artificial intelligence is not going away, and any effort to prohibit it could violate civil rights laws and give governments elsewhere the chance to use it to their advantage.
Joshua Garland, interim director for the Center on Narrative, Disinformation and Strategic Influence at Arizona State University, painted a near-War of the Worlds scenario for the Legislature's interim Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee, describing how artificial intelligence will continue to be used in a hoax-like manner to spread lies and negatively affect people and institutions.
Referring to a large screen displaying an array of fake images depicting President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in compromising situations, Garland told legislators, "This isn't science fiction anymore."
Despite whatever benefits artificial intelligence may have, the use of it to create fake images, words and messages is leading to an "arms race" among those who want to employ it to create falsehoods, he said.
"Not to scare you, but this is now, this is where we are," he said.
Garland was one of several technology experts who testified on the issue at the University of New Mexico branch campus in Los Alamos.
While Garland said it could be difficult to stop or slow artificial intelligence initiatives, others urged lawmakers to put some regulatory policies in place to ensure transparency.
"If I had to start somewhere, the transparency and disclosure in the use of these tools are the right places to start," said Melanie Moses, a computer science professor at the University of New Mexico.
She added forcing disclosure on artificially created content — photos, papers or videos, for example — is important in a world where "videos can be faked and they are flooding the world we live in.
"How in the world does anyone know who to believe?" she asked.
Garland told lawmakers they could enact legislation holding accountable those who use artificial intelligence to make false political claims or accusations during a campaign.
He made a number of recommendations for lawmakers to help educate the public at large about artificial intelligence, such as creating digital media literacy programs for New Mexicans to learn how to access, analyze and evaluate these types of communication.
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, encouraged lawmakers to push to "put some piece of this" issue on the agenda for next year's 30-day legislative session, scheduled to begin in mid-January.
"We're already way behind, and taking some proactive steps to continue to focus on what we can do as a state is critical," Wirth said.
Unlike 60-day legislative sessions, in which all lawmakers can introduce bills without the governor's support, 30-day sessions are focused on the budget. The approval of the governor is required to place any other issues on the docket.
Wirth said after the hearing he wants committee members to come up with a plan to address artificial intelligence and take it to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for her support.
"Absolutely, it makes sense," Wirth said.
Moses and Lydia Tapia, chairwoman of the computer science department at the University of New Mexico, brought up a number of concerns regarding the growing use of artificial intelligence, including the spread of misinformation, the challenge of checking facts and the potential to diminish critical thinking skills for students who use such platforms to write essay papers and do homework.
Some lawmakers expressed concern students in particular could be negatively affected by artificial intelligence if they use it to get schoolwork done.
Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, said noted physicist Albert Einstein was brilliant because he understood complex math problems and could easily explain them. Harper said he worried artificial intelligence tools "will dumb down our society where we won't have many Einsteins anymore."
The issue of using artificial intelligence to create film scripts or replace live actors has played a role in the recent strikes by members of both the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Members of those unions say the use of artificial intelligence in the industry lessens opportunity for employment.
Novelist and screenwriter George R.R. Martin, known for his Game of Thrones fantasy book series, told committee members writers and actors are concerned about ultimately being replaced by artificial intelligence.
He said resolving the issue of artificial intelligence in the movie and television business is a "near future" goal.
But how artificial intelligence develops in the next 50 or 100 years is another matter, he said — one that should cause concern.
Noting artificial intelligence can be "an amazing tool," he added eventually people could use it to create robots and drones.
"Some of the predictions are kind of chilling," he said.
© 2023 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
