Joint Letter to Sen. Schumer and Sen. Rounds on AI Guardrails

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

Senator Mike Rounds
United States Senate
716 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

We, the undersigned organizations, AFL-CIO Tech Institute, Center for American Progress, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Public Citizen, and Public Knowledge, are writing to express our collective support for the inclusion of bills supporting comprehensive guardrails, protections for workers, respect for civil rights/liberties, and measures addressing elections and misinformation issues in your forthcoming legislative package related to artificial intelligence (AI).

As the United States maintains its forefront position in advancing AI technologies, it is crucial for Congressional legislation to reflect the principles of fairness, transparency, equality, and accountability. These values, underscored in the 2022 White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, must be upheld. 

In addition, the Schumer process presents a unique opportunity to shape policies that not only foster innovation but also safeguard the rights and well-being of American citizens from the negative effects of AI on our society.

We appreciate your ongoing efforts to address the challenges posed by AI and its impact on our society. Our organizations believe that any legislative initiative must take a holistic approach regarding the many dimensions of AI implementation into our society. We strongly advocate for the inclusion of the following key policy elements in any AI bill package that emerges from the Schumer process:

• Guardrails for Ethical AI Development and Deployment: The legislation package should include clear and enforceable guidelines that promote ethical AI development and deployment, ensuring transparency, fairness, and accountability in algorithmic decision-making processes. Guardrails should also protect workers from the negative impact of surveillance, monitoring, deskilling and automation.
• Protections for Workers: The legislation package should establish robust safeguards to protect workers’ rights, dignity and safety from potential harms caused by AI technologies such as deskilling, work intensification and job displacement, including comprehensive workforce development programs (including training and education) and place-based strategies creating good union jobs ensuring a just transition for workers impacted by deskilling and job displacement.
  • Advance workers’ right to form and join unions and bargain collectively over AI in the workplace: This will incentivize the creation of AI technology that augments jobs, making them safer and more effective, as opposed to displacing workers.
• Civil Rights Protections: The legislation package should include provisions that prevent discriminatory practices in AI applications, mitigating against inherently biased algorithms that disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
• Election Integrity and Misinformation Mitigation: The legislation package should address the challenges posed by AI in the context of elections and misinformation, including transparency measures to secure election systems, combat disinformation campaigns caused by generative AI creations like deepfakes, and protect the democratic process.

We believe that by incorporating these proposals into your forthcoming legislative framework, we can strike a balance between fostering innovation and addressing the potential risks associated with AI technologies. Our organizations are committed to working collaboratively with your offices and other stakeholders to ensure the continued development of thoughtful and effective AI legislation.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to the opportunity to engage in further discussions and provide our expertise to this important legislative process.

Sincerely,

AFL-CIO Tech Institute 

Center for American Progress

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Public Citizen

Public Knowledge