Artificial intelligence could become the most consequential technology developed in our lifetimes.

Which makes one question especially important: Who should control it?

In my new column for The Blaze, I examine a sweeping new AI proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar that would dramatically expand the federal government’s power over the development of advanced artificial intelligence.

The proposal, known as the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, would pause the development of advanced AI until federal regulators establish new safety rules. It would permanently prohibit certain forms of artificial superintelligence and create an entirely new Cabinet-level federal agency to oversee advanced AI systems.

And the enforcement mechanisms are extraordinary.

People who violate the restrictions could face up to 20 years in prison. Companies could face what Sanders’ office calls the “corporate death penalty.” Federal regulators could also order AI capabilities removed and oversee the destruction of prohibited AI systems.

There are legitimate reasons to worry about advanced artificial intelligence. AI systems that can evade human control, conduct sophisticated cyberattacks, manipulate critical infrastructure, or help develop dangerous biological agents could pose enormous threats.

But my new column focuses on another question that deserves serious consideration: What happens when enormous power over artificial intelligence is concentrated in the hands of a single federal agency?

AI will increasingly influence how Americans communicate, work, conduct research, educate their children, receive information, and participate in the economy. Decisions about which AI systems are permitted to exist could therefore become extraordinarily consequential.

Supporters of federal regulation argue that national rules could avoid a confusing patchwork of 50 different state regulatory systems. That is a serious argument.

But so is the danger of giving Washington the power to stop AI development, destroy AI systems, impose potentially existential penalties on companies, and send people to prison for decades.

I explore that debate in my latest column for The Blaze: BERN NOTICE: SANDERS’ AI PLAN PUTS WASHINGTON IN CHARGE OF TOMORROW

—Justin Haskins
President, Our Republic