WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan questioned leaders about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing today.

Hassan opened by asking Dr. Lynne E. Parker about the prolonged vacancy of the Director position at the National AI Initiative Office. Dr. Parker was the first director of the office. She left in August 2022 and the position has not been filled. In response to Senator Hassan’s questioning, Dr. Parker noted that having a director in place is imperative to address challenges posed by AI.

Hassan then raised concerns to Mr. Taka Ariga, the Chief Data Scientist at the Government Accountability Office, about the safety risks posed by AI systems. Senator Hassan then returned to Dr. Parker and posed a question about the importance of developing a national strategy on safeguards for AI in order to prevent it from being used in a harmful manner against the public. “We need an approach to be able to govern that responsible use of AI,” said Dr. Parker.

Hassan and Dr. Parker also discussed threats posed by “deepfakes,” including AI-generated deepfakes, in the hands of U.S. adversaries and potential technology-based solutions such as using watermarks on videos to identify deepfakes.

Earlier this month, Senator Hassan led her colleagues in sounding the alarm on the potential use of AI, such as ChatGPT, to generate persuasive, tailored scams that are intended to defraud Americans, including by getting access to their personal financial information.