New York’s generative AI symposium addresses opportunities and challenges

Symposium tackles transparency and regulation in AI technology

August 7, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Attorney General Letitia James, who recently issued a report on the benefits and risks of generative AI technology following an April symposium. Photo: Bebeto Williams/AP

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Attorney General Letitia James issued a report on Monday on the potential benefits and risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, as this technology rapidly advances and becomes more embedded in New Yorkers’ daily lives.

The report followed a symposium, “The Next Decade of Generative AI: Fostering Opportunities While Regulating Risks,” organized by Attorney General James this past April.

The symposium brought together officials from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), leading academics, policymakers, advocates and industry representatives to help develop strategies to mitigate risks presented by developing AI technology while ensuring New York can remain at the forefront of innovation.

Topics at the symposium included addressing information and misinformation sharing, data privacy, automated decision-making and potential health care uses for artificial intelligence.

“On a daily basis, we are seeing artificial intelligence utilized to improve our lives but also sow chaos and confusion,” said Attorney General James.

“The symposium I organized helped bring together government and industry experts to discuss and generate real plans and next steps on addressing AI technology, and I thank everyone for their participation and insights on this critical issue,” James continued. “As attorney general, I want to ensure that government is stepping up to properly regulate AI and ensure that its potential to help New Yorkers is realized, while its potential to cause harm is addressed and safeguarded against.”

Generative AI is a subset of AI that creates entirely new content like text, images and audio in response to a prompt. Unlike traditional AI models that are specialized, generative AI can be used in a variety of ways and is broadly accessible to the public. While generative AI presents exciting opportunities to help people, the rapid spread of this new technology poses risks, such as data privacy concerns, the threat of misinformation and the risk of bias, that must be addressed, the AG said.

Participants in the OAG’s symposium engaged in panel discussions that identified fields of opportunity and their potential risks for AI technology, including generative AI. The panels are Generating Opportunity: How Might AI Enhance Our Lives in the Next Decade; The Next Decade of Generative AI Concerns; New York State of Mind; and What Now? Legal and Regulatory Options for the Future.

The need for greater transparency in generative AI use was a major topic during the symposium, with multiple panelists suggesting the need to add clear disclosures to consumers to inform them when they are interacting with AI technology, as well as how their data is collected, used and protected.
Participants also discussed existing laws around discrimination, civil liberties, privacy, data security, defamation, fraud, deception and competition that can be used to rein in some of the potential harms associated with AI technology.

The OAG report details how symposium participants identified the health care field and streamlining administrative responsibilities as areas of opportunities for AI technology to improve lives. Panelists discussed how people could benefit from major technological advancements in disease detection, monitoring trends in public health and precision medicine.