State Rep. Gong-Gershowitz Attends Biden Executive Order Signing On Artificial Intelligence

State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-17th) of Glenview sat in the front row of a signing ceremony for President Joe Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) Monday (Oct. 30) in the White House, before coming back to chair hearings on improving AI protections in Illinois.

President Biden’s executive order “establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more,” a White House fact sheet released on the order says.

“I applaud the sense of urgency displayed by President Biden regarding artificial intelligence and thank him for his much-needed leadership on this critical issue,” Gong-Gershowitz said in a written statement. “AI is a rapidly-developing tool that fundamentally impacts every sector of our society, including individual safety and civil rights. We must ensure that appropriate legal protections and standards are in place to properly address the complex set of dangers and opportunities that AI introduces in order to effectively safeguard individual consumers and the public against the inherent risks to safety, security and truth it can pose.”

Gong-Gershowitz told the Journal & Topics she sat with U.S. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Vice President Camila Harris and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the front row of Monday’s signing in the East Room of the White House, just feet from the president’s desk.