Markey, Moulton call for AI safeguards in final debate
NEEDHAM, Mass. —
The rise of artificial intelligence was a topic of concern for Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Seth Moulton in their final debate Thursday night ahead of the Massachusetts primary election on Sept. 1.
Between workers’ protections and environmental impacts, both Markey and Moulton argued for safeguards against the rapidly expanding technology.
The United States currently does not have a comprehensive federal law regulating AI, according to PolitiFact.
The expansion of the technology has increased the need for more data centers across the country.
“States should be able to regulate AI,” Markey said. “We need national laws… it’s going to be a huge battle. But every community should be able to say ‘no’ to data centers if they don’t want them, if it’s going to trigger electricity spikes, water crisis, pollution bombs going off, but we’re going to need national legislation.”
“We do need federal regulations but we need state regulations and local regulations as well,” Moulton retorted. “Because AI may bring great opportunities, but it also brings great risks, and we cannot repeat the mistakes that we made in failing to regulate the internet… we’ve got to regulate AI to make it safe, make it safe for kids.”
The Bay State is currently home to 40 data centers, with the largest one located in Lowell, owned by the Markley Group.
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge recently ordered the company to pause its plan to expand the data center further into Lowell after private citizens sued.