TL;DR:
- Porto Alegre, Brazil, enacts pioneering legislation entirely authored by AI, specifically OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
- Councilman Ramiro Rosário secretly used ChatGPT to draft a proposal to prevent taxpayers from bearing the cost of stolen water consumption meters.
- The proposal was unanimously approved by the 36-member city council without knowledge of its AI origin.
- ChatGPT’s impact on public policy raises questions about AI’s role and transparency in governance.
- The global emergence of AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT sparks both promise and concern in various sectors.
- ChatGPT’s tendency to generate false information (hallucination) highlights potential risks.
- Legal experts caution that AI may not consistently grasp the nuances of the law, posing potential challenges.
- Massachusetts Senator Barry Finegold explores AI’s assistance in crafting legislation but stresses the importance of transparency.
- Transparency was lacking in Porto Alegre, where Rosário intentionally kept ChatGPT’s involvement hidden.
- The move aims to spark a debate on the responsible use of AI in policymaking and its potential societal impact.
Main AI News:
City lawmakers in Brazil have recently enacted what may be the nation’s inaugural piece of legislation drafted entirely by artificial intelligence, shedding light on the evolving role of AI in public policy. This groundbreaking ordinance quietly passed in October within the city of Porto Alegre, catching even the council members by surprise.
The brains behind this experimental ordinance were none other than OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, whose assistance was enlisted by councilman Ramiro Rosário. His objective was to formulate a proposal aimed at preventing the city from charging taxpayers for stolen water consumption meters. Remarkably, Rosário presented ChatGPT’s draft to his fellow council members without making any alterations or disclosing its AI origin.
Rosário explained, “If I had revealed it before, the proposal certainly wouldn’t even have been taken to a vote.” Nevertheless, the 36-member council unanimously approved it, and the ordinance officially took effect on November 23rd.
The advent of ChatGPT just a year ago has triggered a global discourse on the potential transformative power of AI-powered chatbots. While it holds great promise as a valuable tool, concerns have also arisen regarding the inadvertent consequences of machines assuming tasks traditionally handled by humans.
Porto Alegre, the second-largest city in Brazil’s south with a population of 1.3 million, witnessed council president Hamilton Sossmeier expressing reservations about Rosário’s employment of ChatGPT. Initially viewing it as a “dangerous precedent,” Sossmeier later revised his stance as he delved deeper into the subject.
Chatbots powered by large language models, such as ChatGPT, operate by predicting the next word in a sentence and are susceptible to generating false information, a phenomenon termed “hallucination.” Recent research conducted by tech company Vectara indicates that false information can be introduced in summaries by chatbots, with rates ranging from 3% for advanced GPT models to approximately 27% for certain Google models.
In an article from Harvard Law School’s Center of Legal Profession, Andrew Perlman pointed out that ChatGPT’s emergence “may portend an even more momentous shift than the advent of the internet.” Still, he cautioned about its potential limitations, highlighting the challenges it may face in comprehending the nuances and complexities of the law compared to human lawyers.
Rosário’s employment of ChatGPT is not the first instance of a lawmaker worldwide testing the capabilities of this AI tool. Others have explored its use in a more limited capacity, with varying degrees of success. For instance, in Massachusetts, Democratic state Sen. Barry Finegold employed ChatGPT to assist in crafting a bill aimed at regulating AI models, including ChatGPT itself.
Finegold emphasized the importance of transparency in the utilization of AI in lawmaking, suggesting that any work generated by ChatGPT should be clearly marked. He believes that AI’s role in drafting legislation is inevitable, provided that it is done transparently.
In the case of Rosário’s proposal in Porto Alegre, transparency was not upheld. Sossmeier revealed that Rosário had not informed fellow council members about ChatGPT’s involvement, opting to keep it under wraps. Rosário’s intention was deliberate – not only to address a local issue but also to ignite a broader conversation.
“I am convinced that… humanity will experience a new technological revolution,” Rosário stated. “All the tools we have developed as a civilization can be used for evil and good. That’s why we have to show how it can be used for good.”
Sossmeier, who initially opposed the approach, has had a change of heart, acknowledging the inevitable trend toward AI-assisted legislation. “I changed my mind,” he admitted. “I started to read more in-depth and saw that, unfortunately, or fortunately, this is going to be a trend.”
Conclusion:
The adoption of AI, such as ChatGPT, in crafting legislation signifies a significant milestone in the intersection of technology and governance. While it offers efficiency and innovation, the potential for unintended consequences, including misinformation and transparency issues, calls for careful consideration and regulation in the evolving landscape of AI in policymaking. Market-wise, this signals a growing need for AI governance solutions and tools to ensure the responsible and transparent use of AI in public policy.
