This morning, the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law held a hearing with AI experts, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, to discuss the dangers of AI and how it should be regulated.
The nearly three-hour hearing featured the usual committee hearing trappings, with lawmakers asking tough questions and a predictable amount of theatrics. Here are a few moments that stood out:
Subcommittee Chairman Senator Richard Blumenthal started the hearing by playing a recording of himself giving opening remarks. However, it turned out that the speech was not actually him speaking, but rather an AI voice cloning tool trained using his past floor speeches. The senator had asked the generative AI to write opening remarks based on his history of advocating for consumer rights and data privacy. While humorous, Senator Blumenthal switched tones to remark on the potential dangers of voice cloning tools falling into the wrong hands.
