House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) have formed a new working group on artificial intelligence (AI).
The bipartisan Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be led by U.S. Rep, French Hill (R-AR), who is chair of the Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee, and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), who is the ranking member of the subcommittee.
The working group will explore how AI is impacting the financial services and housing industries, including the development of new products and services, fraud prevention, compliance efficiency, and the enhancement of supervisory and regulatory tools. It will also look at how AI may impact the financial services workforce.
“The rapid advance of artificial intelligence technology holds immense promise to transform society and our economy for the better, but it also comes with risks,” McHenry said. “To help educate members, our committee is creating a new bipartisan Working Group on AI. The Working Group will explore this technology’s potential, specifically its adoption in our financial system. It will also find ways to leverage artificial intelligence to foster a more inclusive financial system while establishing the U.S. as the world leader in AI development and terms of use.”
The group will also examine how existing regulation addresses the use of AI and how lawmakers can ensure that any new regulations consider both the potential benefits and risks associated with AI.
“With this Working Group, I look forward to building on the work I established when I was Chair and created Congress’ first-ever Task Force on AI, where we held nearly a dozen hearings. I am also eager to get together with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to examine the benefits and dangers of AI to ensure that this technology does not advance beyond our ability to regulate it, worsen existing inequities and that consumers are properly protected from harm or abuse,” Waters said.
This group is a continuation of the work conducted by the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence in the 116th and 117th Congresses.
“As AI rapidly advances, it is important that we examine its use, need for potential changes in U.S. laws and/or the regulatory framework for both effective oversight and ensuring global competitiveness. The Working Group is a natural extension of our policy focus on the Digital Assets Subcommittee, and I look forward to building upon our prior Committee exploration from our 2019 – 2022 AI Task Forces,” Hill said.
In October, President Biden issued an executive order to ensure that America leads the way in AI while managing the risks. The working group will serve as a forum to examine the directives from the executive order.
“While financial institutions, financial technology companies, and government agencies are already utilizing artificial intelligence to facilitate the detection of financial crime, risk analysis, personalized customer services, consumer lending, and other critical functions, the evolving application of A.I. technologies must be paralleled by robust federal oversight and a regulatory framework that is adaptive to innovation and equipped to identify potential risks to American consumers,” Lynch said.
Along with McHenry, Waters, Hill, and Lynch, members of the group include Reps. Young Kim (R-CA), Mike Flood (R-NE), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Erin Houchin (R-IN), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Sean Casten (D-IL), and Brittany Pettersen (D-CO).