The Most Sweeping Technological Revolution in History

Dear Fellow Vermonter,

We are at the beginning of the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity. This revolution is being funded by some of the wealthiest people on Earth — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg and others. Trust me. These multibillionaires do not stay up nights worrying about the well-being of ordinary people. They are in it for more profits, more wealth and more power. Our job: make sure that artificial intelligence (AI) benefits ALL people, not just the very wealthy few.

AI and robotics are transforming the world as we know it and will impact every man, woman and child in our country. There are some very knowledgeable people who believe that, in scale and speed, the AI revolution will be 100 times more impactful than the Industrial Revolution. This revolution will affect our economy and our jobs, our environment, education, our social relationships and mental health, our privacy, the nature of warfare and our democracy. 

Further, there are Nobel Prize winners and AI experts who worry that, if this technology becomes more intelligent than humans, it could break away from human control and threaten the very existence of humanity.

Given the enormity of the challenges posed by AI, you might expect that Congress would be working night and day to regulate this industry and protect the people of our country and the world. Unfortunately, that’s not the case — which has a lot to do with the hundreds of millions of dollars that wealthy AI companies are contributing to congressional candidates. They are buying silence and inaction.

My office is working hard to lead the way in combating that inaction.  

We have introduced legislation to place a moratorium on the construction of new data centers — the infrastructure of AI — until safeguards are in place to protect workers, the environment, the health of our kids, our privacy and the future of the human race. I am happy to say that cities, towns and states all across the country are following our lead in calling for moratoriums.

As we think about these new technologies, we must also consider the very serious concerns of AI experts from around the world. Last month, I brought together scientists from the U.S. and China for an unprecedented discussion at the U.S. Capitol about the existential risks posed by AI. I hope you’ll watch that conversation. 

The American and Chinese experts I heard from were clear: uncontrolled AI poses a very clear danger to all of humanity. If AI becomes smarter than humans it could operate independently of human control with possibly catastrophic results. The challenges posed by AI are global in nature and, in my view, we must have a global response.

Further, given the enormous transformation of society that AI can bring about, we must have serious conversations in communities throughout the country as to what the American people want from this revolutionary technology, what they fear from it and what they expect from their government. AI has the potential to do some very positive things. It can also be very harmful. Let’s be smart and thoughtful as we go forward. 

This is an extremely important, far-reaching  and complex issue. I would very much appreciate the thoughts and concerns of Vermonters as to what you would like to see.

Sincerely,