As Northern Utah officials and residents weigh a proposed large AI data center in Box Elder County, Congressman Blake Moore joined KVNU’s For the People program to talk broadly about the potential and risks of AI, and his recently introduced AI Children’s Toy Safety Act
“This is going to be helpful in the quest for the cure of all cancers,” Rep. Moore stated. “We want to be able to use advanced computer technology to do that. But I don’t want my 15-year-old engaging in some type of companionship with an AI tool that makes them think that’s a real life personal relationship.”
Moore said getting AI right, both in data center location debates and its real world application, is a matter of national security and cultural importance, saying we need to get reasonable guardrails in place quickly.
“We’re not trying to say we shouldn’t be able to create good, strong, broad, generative power and what powers AI,” Moore added. “We want to lead the arms race in that. But we don’t want to do is allow the applications that are offshoots from that computer, that generative power.
“We don’t want those to become major social ills. We can actually look ahead and say, yeah, that’s probably not going to be a good thing for the next generation.”
The congressman also shared his personal experience at home, describing how his autistic son is drawn to advanced interactive technologies and AI interactions.
“We have a child, he’s 10 years old, he’s on autism spectrum,” he explained. “We’re open about it. And I see him going to his room and talk to Alexa. ‘Hey Alexa, tell me some jokes.’ He loves to tell jokes and he’s amazing at it. He doesn’t engage with his friends as well as his twin brother does, who’s typically developing.
“This child, his autism, he’s going to just be friends with these toys or these machines or this made up life because it’s a little easier for him to go and talk to Alexa than it is to talk to someone his age because he’s got some developmental issues. We watch it and monitor it closely and we’ve got to. This is how it could be such a slippery slope.”
Moore’s AI Children’s Toy Safety Act is scheduled for debate in the coming weeks, and you can read the bill at blakemoore.house.gov.