AI poses unprecedented threats. Congress must act now --- Bernie Sanders

[usonian]

Posted in The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/02/artificial-intelligence-threats-congress
Also by the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/ai-poses-unprecedented-threats-congress-must-act-now/
Has a copyright notice, albeit 2022, so only 4 paragraphs quoted here.

Could AI literally redefine what it means to be a human being? Who we are, and how we develop emotionally and intellectually, is highly dependent upon our relationships with other human beings – our parents, family, teachers, lovers, friends and co-workers. To quote the 17th-century poet John Donne: “No man is an island / Entire of itself.” The human beings with whom we interact help shape us to become the people we are.

But AI is changing that. According to a recent poll by Common Sense Media, 72% of US teenagers say they have used AI for companionship, and more than half do so regularly. What does it mean for young people to form “friendships” with AI, and become increasingly isolated from other human beings? What happens when millions seek emotional support from a machine? What is the long-term impact upon our humanity when our most important relationships are not with other human beings?

What impact is AI having on our environment? AI datacenters require a massive amount of electricity and water. A relatively small AI datacenter can consume more electricity than 80,000 homes. A large one, like the $165bn datacenter that OpenAI and Oracle are building in Abilene, Texas, will use as much electricity as 750,000 homes. Meta is building a datacenter in Louisiana the size of Manhattan that will use as much electricity as 1.2m homes.

In community after community, Americans are fighting back against datacenters being built by some of the largest corporations in the world. They are opposing the destruction of their local environment, soaring electric bills and the diversion of scarce water supplies. Nationally, how will continued construction of AI datacenters affect our environment?

But what action will congress take?
• Back up trillions in AI Bubble debt?
• Lower electric costs for Sam Altman, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai?

[GreatGazoo]

1. If the core problem is mental health then banning or restricting AI will not solve it

If dog training taught me anything it is that "Saying 'no' gets you nowhere." IOW if you want a dog to stop jumping up on people then yelling "Stop it! No!" doesn't work. You have to give the dog an incompatible behavior -- "Sit!"

Congress is not much different. They have their own set of priorities eg stock trading, kickbacks and alliances with oligarchs. So if we want more resources directed at mental health we have to ask for that specifically.

Also, electricity is a delivery mechanism, not an energy source. AI data centers should be required to use "behind the meter" energy sources which do not affect or burden the retail consumer grid.

[highplainsdem]

2. Chatbots can cause mental health problems. The AI companies don't deny that. And data centers are

already causing problems because of the demand for electricity and water.

AI companies aren't being properly regulated because they've bought too many politicians already, including Trump. Just as crypto isn't being properly regulated.

The AI robber barons are oligarchs, and would have been a threat to our democracy even if Harris had beaten Trump. Some of them, like Vance sponsor Peter Thiel, have made it clear they don't like democracy.

The AI robber barons deserve prison sentences just for the theft of the world's intellectual property to train AI. But that won't happen with the current criminal regime.

[anciano]

3. AI technology is the new reality of modern life....

acceptance and adaptation are not optional going forward, they are essential.