‘AI accountability agenda’: US senator unveils package of bills to curb tech’s harms

Exclusive: Senator Ed Markey on why he has proposed legislation aimed at curbing datacenters, automated hiring systems and harm to children

US senator Ed Markey is worried about the perils of unregulated artificial intelligence.

What part? All of it: the costs associated with thirsty, energy-guzzling datacenters, intrusive workplace surveillance, bias in discriminatory algorithms, AI overriding workers’ judgments, and deepening economic inequality – as those who profit most from AI rake in extraordinary windfalls.

The Massachusetts Democrat’s interest in convincing Congress to rein in the harmful effects of AI has only grown, as the technology embeds itself deeper across industries. Markey has already authored close to a dozen bills aimed at tackling these problems.

In the coming weeks, the 79-year-old senator, plans to introduce his latest bill, focused on federal certification requirements for datacenters powering the AI boom – as anger mounts about their negative effects on the environment and energy bills .

“We need to make sure these datacenters don’t turn into pollution bombs ,” Markey said.

On Friday, Markey unveiled this package of bills as part of a new “AI accountability agenda” focused on “taking power back from big tech”.

“Every American is entitled to these safeguards … it shouldn’t be limited just by geographic boundaries of the individual states,” said Markey, who is running for his third full term in the Senate.

He stressed that a piecemeal approach to AI “would leave too many people exposed” and that the government has to act on regulation quickly, though there has been little federal movement on the subject since ChatGPT’s release in 2022.

Markey’s preliminary version of the bill, shared with the Guardian, would require companies that own or propose datacenters to obtain certification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) affirming that the facilities “will not harm the public interest” even before construction begins.

The proposal states that the commission would evaluate proposed data centers’ potential effects on air and water quality, noise levels, energy costs and electricity system reliability, the local ecosystem and wildlife, the local economy and jobs. The agency should consult with federal, state and local agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and zoning boards, the discussion draft states.

The broad agenda highlights specific people hit hardest by the issues his bills seek to address. That includes grieving parents who say their 14-year-old son died by suicide after being sexually groomed by a chatbot, a resident of a rural Georgia town who can’t drink her tap water at home after datacenter construction began nearby , a woman who sued over an allegedly discriminatory algorithm that denied her housing and a veteran nurse who felt morally distressed about following an AI model’s instincts over her own.

Markey’s other AI legislation includes bills that would ban employers from primarily relying on automated systems for hiring, firing and promotion decisions; require stronger safeguards for AI chatbot companies to prevent kids from becoming emotionally dependent on them; and mandate that AI developers conduct detailed, independent audits of potential bias and discrimination before releasing algorithms that make important decisions.

Other proposals would institute every federal agency using, funding or overseeing AI to have an office of civil rights focused on combatting bias and discrimination; require health care facilities to create human override options for AI decisions; protect workers who disagree with AI recommendations; and ensure companies report the energy and environmental effects of data centers in a standardized way.

Fighting inertia

Despite Congress’s inaction on AI regulation, Markey is optimistic that in the long-run, many of his proposals will win bipartisan support: “Ultimately, there will be national solutions that will be put on the books,” he said.

Many of his AI bills are still stuttering through the legislative process, but one of his child safety proposals has picked up momentum. In March, the Senate passed the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, which would ban targeted ads to children and teens, make it easier for families to delete a kid’s personal data and set strict limits on the collection of personal information from minors.

Another of Markey’s bills would restrict the growing use of surveillance technology in the workplace, and a separate proposal would ban productivity quotas he says push staff beyond their physical limits and lead to injuries. The senator says his conversations with workers about how intensely their workdays are monitored have reinforced his belief that the labor movement’s hard fought protections haven’t caught up with technological advances.

“The conversations I had with workers absolutely animated my decision to introduce legislation,” he said.

Labor rights are especially personal for Markey. His father worked in a factory before the landmark Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created to ensure safe working conditions. While on the job, Markey said at a 2024 rally outside an Amazon warehouse, that his father’s finger was “crushed and cut off” because of an accident with a machine, and that his boss asked him to report back to work promptly.

“My father had another finger, which he used to describe his attitude towards the boss and that company – and it reflects how too many workers in our country feel.”