Congress is working on a bill to boost public awareness of AI

The less that consumers understand about artificial intelligence, the scarier it is — and the more likely it is that AI could cause harm.

But with a technology that has evolved in the public space at a lightning-fast speed, it’s hard for US consumers to keep up. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Delaware, and Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-New York introduced a bipartisan US House bill last week to address just that.

Called the “Consumer Literacy and Empowerment to Advance Responsible Navigation of Artificial Intelligence Act,” or the “Consumers LEARN AI Act,” it would have the federal, state and local governments, along with private, public and nonprofit organizations identify what people need to know to be AI literate. It’ll signal opportunities to learn more, and how to educate the public on the tech. 

“AI is already here and happening around us, whether it’s the chatbots you use while online shopping, or virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa,” Blunt Rochester told Technical.ly via email. “We want people to be able to take advantage of the benefits of AI, but also be protected when using it.” 

The legislators hope that the bill will help consumers understand how AI is used in daily life and know what questions to ask AI providers. Then, they’ll be more aware of best practices, legal issues and how to recognize when AI is used for fraud.

The bill has support from tech organizations across the country, including The Tech Council of Delaware and Philadelphia-based Tech Impact, as well as industry leaders with IBM, the Software Alliance, AARP, the National Technology Security Coalition and Consumer Action, to name a few.

“With the explosion of artificial intelligence, as with any technology, education is essential,” said Patrick Callihan, CEO at Tech Impact. “New applications are entering our workplaces and our lives, the understanding of the technology and how they it is consumed and leveraged will be important to every citizen.”

If the bill passes as written, it will allocate $50 million each fiscal year from 2025 to 2030 to create, implement and market an AI literacy campaign geared toward US consumers with consideration for the needs of different demographics. Older consumers, for example, may be the target of television PSAs.

In addition to educating consumers, the bill will bring about potential contracting opportunities for organizations in consulting, development and other tasks needed to get the job done.

Commerce Dept., SBA would lead AI PSAs for the general public

The Consumers LEARN AI Act gives the Secretary of Commerce, currently Gina Raimondo, six months from its passage to develop a national strategy and public campaign materials to teach artificial intelligence literacy to US consumers. 

The materials will be multilingual and created with consulting from federal, state, local, tribal and territorial agencies, as well as selected public, private and nonprofit organizations. 

“This strategy will draw on the expertise of leaders from government, the private sector, and nonprofits to meet Americans where they are and help every consumer make the most of AI,” Blunt Rochester said.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) would also be consulted with for a strategy for small business owners.

The strategy will have four focuses across sectors like finance, healthcare, communications and business management:

• To help current and future consumers of AI products decide why and when they should be used 
• To develop methods to help consumers understand what AI can and cannot do
• To launch a national informational public service campaign
• To come up with different ways to engage with consumers, such as competitions

Once that’s complete, it will be reviewed every year and evaluated to see if it has met its performance measures, and updated as necessary, according to the bill.

National public service campaign materials will be created within four months and made available on a website, which will be advertised on the internet, TV and radio. Materials will also be distributed via the SBA, and at least one private or nonprofit organization that will be selected at a later point will further help with distribution.

A more direct call to action

Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, who is running for one of Delaware’s two US Senate seats in November, has introduced several technology-focused bills during her time in the House.

In December 2023, Blunt Rochester introduced the AI Literacy Act. The bipartisan bill would codify AI literacy as a key component of digital literacy and create opportunities to incorporate AI literacy into existing programs. 

As we reported at the time, the first part of that bill is to amend the Digital Equity Act of 2021 so that AI is formally defined as an area that people need to be equitably educated about.

The AI Literacy Act has not moved in the House since its introduction. The new Consumers LEARN AI Act, which is a companion to a Consumers LEARN Act introduced in the Senate in July, goes straight to creating a strategy.

In addition to Blunt Rochester’s work with artificial intelligence legislation, the Congresswoman’s tech portfolio includes other tech-focused bills.

In May 2023, she the Immersive Technology for the American Workforce Act, a bipartisan bill that supports workforce development utilizing immersive technology including augmented and virtual reality. 

Then, in July 2023, she introduced the Jobs of the Future Act, which authorizes the Department of Labor and the National Science Foundation to create a report analyzing the future growth of artificial intelligence and its impact on the American workforce. 

Both bills have yet to have passed the House.

“Many people feel unprepared to use AI tools,” Blunt Rochester said. “Congress can help empower people by making sure they have what they need to be prepared: AI literacy.”