Artificial intelligence (AI) is a vexed term. Most people in the world have probably heard it said or used it themselves, but they have no idea what it means. And no wonder: Its original formulation was as a placeholder, a way for researcher John McCarthy to get a grant proposal together. 

Even though AI is a grab-bag of things, Congress still seeks it out everywhere and anywhere. 

The record of bills introduced into the 117th Congress this year, searchable on Congress dot gov, is heating up with lots of proposals for how AI should be used, accepted, and considered. The number of bills introduced that contain AI swelled over the past few years from almost nothing to dozens each year. 

Consider some recent motions.

Arizona representative David Schweikert (Republican) proposed the ”Healthy Technology Act of 2021,” H.R. 5467, which proposes to have the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic act amended to include artificial intelligence and machine learning among the “professionals” who are authorized to prescribe drugs. Why is that “healthy” technology? The very short proposal doesn’t say. A machine learning program would still need to be authorized by each State, the bill stipulates.

South Dakota senator Mike Rounds (Republican) proposed the “Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Act of 2021,” S.2904, which requires the Secretary of Defense to conduct a review of the Department’s “platforms” and to report on a few different things, including a “comprehensive review of skill gaps in the fields of software development, software engineering, knowledge management, data science, and artificial intelligence”; “assess investment by the Department in artificial intelligence innovation”; and review the prospect of “the integration of artificial intelligence into war-games, exercises, and experimentation.” Read On: