Rick Scott backs child-safety AI rules but says Congress cannot regulate existential risk

Sen. Rick Scott split his answer on AI regulation. On children's safety he said Congress can act now, that he has introduced a bill and others have too, and that children must be told they are talking to a computer rather than a person and that AI systems cannot encourage them to take their own lives. On what he called destroying mankind, he said the companies need to do the right thing on their own, that Congress will not get smart enough to regulate them and will not get something done. The clip circulated widely with only the self-regulation passage quoted.

“I think first we need to be focused on kids safety. I think that's something we actually can do right now. I've got a bill. Others have bills. … But with regard to destroying mankind, these companies need to do the right thing on their own. We're not going to get smart enough to regulate them. We're not going to get something done up here to regulate them. But with regard to our kids, we need to make sure … they know that this is not a human being these kids are talking to, and they cannot be teaching our kids to commit suicide.”