II. The First Amendment and AI | Symposium | A.I. & The First Amendment

Panel 2: The First Amendment and AI
What is the scope of First Amendment protections for generative AI, including model outputs, model inputs, model design choices, and evaluations? Does Section 230 apply to generative AI? Should it?
Panelists:
Jeff Kosseff - Non-Resident Senior Fellow, The Future of Free Speech
Eugene Volokh - Professor, UCLA Law School & incoming Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution at Stanford University
Keith Chu - Chief Communications Adviser and Deputy Policy Director, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)
Ben Wizner - Director, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
Moderator: Becca Branum - Deputy Director, Free Expression Project, Center for Democracy & Technology
About the Symposium | Artificial Intelligence & The First Amendment: Protecting Free Speech in the AI Era
Date: June 24, 2024
As federal and state policymakers grapple with how to regulate emerging AI technology, there is an urgent need to address the implications of policy proposals on free speech and open discourse. Policymakers around the world have focused on the potential dangers of AI, often assuming that regulation is necessary.
In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden announced that he wanted to “[h]arness the promise of A.I. and protect us from its peril,” including proposals to “[b]an A.I. voice impersonation and more.” Meanwhile, the E.U. recently adopted sweeping regulations that could significantly impact AI companies’ content and moderation policies in the U.S.
What threats does AI pose to our information environment? What steps can and should policymakers take to address those threats without unduly burdening online free speech?
A symposium organized by The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University and the Center for Democracy and Technology ( ‪@CenDemTech‬ ) brought together leading voices from civil society, U.S. institutions, and the private sector. Panels focused on proposed AI regulations in the context of the First Amendment and other free speech protections. The participants discussed how freedom of expression principles, both in the U.S. and abroad, should apply to generative AI and explored ways to create a resilient free-speech culture.