A congressman wanted to understand AI. So he went back to a college classroom to learn
A congressman wanted to understand AI. So he went back to a college classroom to learn
The 73-year-old Beyer enrolled at George Mason University to get a master’s degree in machine learning.
NGL, I can respect that. Probably on tax money let's be honest, but kudos for wanting to be informed.
Honestly, I'd much rather tax money go to that than to hand outs for corporations
Ya, thinking about it now, I'm on board.
I’d GLADY use my tax dollars to educate my representatives about new technology.
To be fair though, someone in that position of power should already be well educated. It should be a requirement so we don't end up with the space lasers dipshit and the handy in a theater whore. It should also be a requirement to keep up with times by doing what this guy did.
It takes more checks and balances to be a truck driver than it does to become a senator or someone in the house.
Yeah but he got free classes while the rest of us suffered. Like to know how he vote on student loan debt.
https://www.billtrack50.com/legislatordetail/20814
That's his record of votes and proposed legislation for the current Congress.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2034
That's a bill he supported in committee.
He has also worked with Sanders and Warren to convince Biden to expand debt relief granted through the executive branch. As far as congressmen go, he's a good one.
His salary is also from taxes so kinda either way.
If we're going to PAY for congressmen, the least we could do is make it free for everyone else.
Scanning... Scanning.... ah, there it is: "Democrat"
Is it confirmation bias or is it just most often true that Democrats do the admirable stuff and Republicans do the abhorrent stuff?
Well yeah. The republicans who do the admirable stuff get ostracized by their colleagues and their base. Look at McCain (what they did to his legacy) or his daughter. Look at Mitt Romney. Old guard actual republicans with a shred of integrity are bullied for not chasing the outrage of the week.
Hell, even house speaker Mike Johnson, by all accounts a deep red Bible thumping Maga republican asshole, is facing resignation calls for just compromising on a bill that might avert a government shutdown. Literally doing his job.
It's not confirmation bias. Republican congressman don't have the room to understand what they're voting on.
Republicans have this Reagan-era thing called the “11th Commandment” - you fall in line with the leader, no dissent voiced in the party. So basically, party first, the needs of the nation second.
They also believe there is a fixed amount of funds available for anything, and it’s basically the Hunger Games if you want to fight for your constituency. The rich though are always supported.
Democrats have had this idea of “the Big Tent” since the FDR days; there’s room for everyone and we need to consider at everyone’s views to work together. Basically the polar opposite of Republicans - they’re all Black and White thinking, and Dems live and build in the Greys where the rest of us are. Dems are a mix of financial conservatives, centrists and progressives, and each section does it part to pull the party forward, together.
We’re also quick to beat up on one of our own if they’re taking graft - hello, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Can you imagine the Republicans doing this? No, I didn’t think so.
Overall yes, but do note that the person in charge of the committee is a Republican and also seems keen on understanding what they regulate.
good for this guy for trying to learn more about the stuff he’s regulating. although i can’t help but feel concerned that “congressman wants to understand the things he’s regulating” is a headline news story. shouldn’t this be the bare minimum?
They used to have an office dedicated to this stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Technology_Assessment
The whole of Congress (more or less) votes on everything they regulate. There are lots of different subjects in the world, although AI is definitely one of the newer ones. Being a congressman is a pretty busy job juggling time between home and Washington (plus a campaign every 2 years to keep your job). I'm really impressed he was able to squeeze this in, let alone anything else Congress may have to regulate
It sucks, but I'm not seeing a practical way to make this a common thing.
I wish more politicians would do this, and not rely on corporate lobbyist to educate them or write laws for them.
Yup. This is my guy, my VA rep. I remember getting either a mailer, or a newsletter, or whatever, update from his office talking about him starting this. Thought it was great and locked in my support. I agree we need to keep flowing in young blood into congress, but Don is still doing good work and doing his best to keep relevant.
I’d take a Don Beyer over any young Republican lackey any day (hello, Moscow Marge).
Fuck age - I want a thinking person with real experience, who makes an effort to do what’s right for all of us.
Honestly, a solid half of the reason I want young people in Congress is that they're (in theory) still willing to learn, so I'm fairly ok with this guy if he's willing to put in the work.
The other half is because they'll have to live with the consequences for longer, so let's still get the average age in politics down, but yeah. I like hearing about this guy.
This is the kind of thing I'd like to see a lot more of.
Lobby groups in the US cant be trusted to offer sensible regulation of themselves and congress doesn't know the industry so they cant be trusted for sensible regulations either.
Id be far more willing to trust the US Congress if they knew at least a little about the things they are trying to regulate
I thought it was going to be a cringe inducing fluff piece but the guy showed a decent grasp of the benefits and pitfalls of expanded AI use as well as why the EU's approach is not the way we probably want to go. Pleasantly surprised.
why the EU's approach is not the way we probably want to go.
Is that part in a different article? I'd like to read more on that, but this article didn't seem to go into it that much
It was mentioned in the video interview. I don't know of a single article with a good summary.
What's wrong with how the EU is doing it? Seems pretty level headed to me.
Unfortunately, the press releases are PR fluff. The EU's publicity guys don't work any differently than those of any major corporations.
I know parts of the AI act and may be able to answer questions about particular aspects.
Off the top of my head: 3 general problems.
It is simply a mistake to regulate software based on how it is made, rather than what it is used for. EG They ended up regulating chatbots in the same act as mass surveillance. I don't think that helped, either. Hard to say for sure.
They ended up doing a lot of bad micromanaging. The training data for "high risk" AI must fulfill certain conditions. This is certainly going to increase costs, but it's unclear if it will lead to any improvement. The sane thing would have been to define the desired performance. It's a typical problem. People without technical knowledge demand things to be done a certain way, because they figure it will get them what they want, instead of saying what they want.
Finally, there's the interference of existing industry. The copyright lobby got some stuff in there, that may or may not enable them to extract some free money. It will certainly harm European citizens by making development much harder than it needs to be.
This actually made me tear up a bit, knowing there is someone in congress willing to make the effort to properly educate himself on the stuff he's writing and passing laws governing.
Man, he went straight towards a Masters Degree. That’s not some BS publicity move. Have to give the guy a lot of respect.
A USA leader acting responsibly? This is unheard of. Good for this guy.
His name is Don Beyer, since nobody's mentioned it yet. Seems like an upstanding dude!
Well, anyone willing to admit they don't know something, then take steps to rectify that lack of knowledge.... Well they are ok in my book
Reminds me of the judge on the SCO Linux case that took a programming class to better understand the arguments in the case.
Awesome! Next, do gynecology so you can help regulate women's bodies!
He's pro choice and proposed federal legislation to guarantee the right to both medication and surgical abortion and to require insurance to cover it. He has sponsored bills to protect IVF and other reproductive treatment, to give everyone paid sick leave specifically including parents taking leave to care for sick children, to expand Medicare to cover all citizens.
I'm not sure how much more he can support the right to bodily autonomy.