Congressman Don Beyer returns to school for AI understanding for improved policy-making
WASHINGTON (7News) — Congress is looking to regulate Artificial Intelligence. But before they enact legislation, they have to get up to speed. 7News On Your Side’s Lindsey Mastis covers AI and met with Congressman Don Beyer who going back to school to learn more about Artificial Intelligence.
Beyer has a master's degree in machine learning. Mastis sat down with him after class at George Mason University and visited him at his office on Capitol Hill to talk with him in-depth about Artificial Intelligence.
“We're seeing the next generation. And this is an entirely different experience than when you got your undergrad degree,” Mastis said. “What goes through your mind as you just look around?”
“The thing I'm most impressed with here is the diversity. The kids are so many different ones. It looks like nationalities and cultures and languages and colors, and which really encourages me,” said Beyer.
It's a stark difference from when Beyer got his first degree in economics at Williams College in 1972.
“Back then it was it was all almost all white, all male,” he said.
Very few women, and no robots roaming the campus. Now he’s met by small robots designed to deliver food to students.
SEE ALSO | How robot food delivery at George Mason could become the wave of the future
“What do you think of the Meals On Six Wheels?” Mastis asked.
“I'm always afraid they're going to run me over, but they seem to be pretty good,” Rep. Beyer said.
Beyer is taking one class per semester. He's noticed during lectures that he's the only student taking notes in a notebook.
“This is a computer science class, like a 200 level. And it's teaching something called object-oriented programming that I couldn't spell before this year, and actually teaching a new language, Java, that many computer scientists use when they're working together in teams,” he said.
Beyer is learning to code. Last semester, he focused on Python. While coding isn't something members of Congress would need to know, he believes understanding the concepts is crucial when creating policy.
And a driving force for impactful regulation is fear.
“The biggest fear is employment. What jobs will this eliminate?” he said about fears he hears from people in his district.
But on Capitol Hill, the fear is more about foreign relations.
“Interestingly, the biggest fear is that China will beat us in this international competition, which is also about national security. That we really don't want them to get ahead of us on Artificial Intelligence, and they're being able to use it for military purposes,” he said. “That would really put our lives in jeopardy or our democracy in jeopardy.”
On Capitol Hill, he's becoming the go-to expert on AI. He was recently named to a bipartisan task force on artificial intelligence and is vice chair of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus.
Mastis asked him what part of AI would be regulated first.
“Probably the most important thing to regulate was privacy. And it won't be the first thing because we've not really figured out how to regulate privacy yet. I think what could possibly be the first thing would be regulating deepfakes. Using AI for trickery in political advertising,” he said.
Back in the classroom, Beyer is performing quite well in his studies.
“I got that one, a B-plus, it really upset me,” he said.
While he's studying the future, his presence on campus could be influencing future generations.
“Let's say one of these students, when they're 73, goes back to school. What do you hope their experience will be when they reach where you are now?” Mastis asked.
“Well, I hope maybe just a small part is I can inspire them to not stop their learning when they graduate from George Mason or their graduate school. You know that you're continuing to challenge yourself and learn new things. I think this makes for a more fun, interesting, richer life,” he said.
Beyer is expecting it to take another four years to complete his degree. He says he's earned a 3.87 GPA so far.