SoCal's Obernolte drives AI work in Congress
House member with computer science background is optimistic Task force leaders say collaboration between parties best way to tackle threats posed by AI
Jay Obernolte was a seventh grader when his father came home with a transformative gift: an Apple II Plus computer and a book on how to learn to program.
It didn't have a disk drive or cassette interface — those were expensive, he recalled — which meant nothing could be saved. Any program he had learned to write had to be retyped when he turned the computer on, starting from scratch.
That repetition, that inconvenience helped cement Obernolte's life ambition to become a researcher in artificial intelligence.
It's what he went to school to do, studying engineering and applied science at Caltech before pursuing a master's degree in artificial intelligence from UCLA.
But instead of working away in an ivory tower of academia, Obernolte is leading the charge on AI policy in Congress, where professional athletes outnumber lawmakers with computer science degrees.
Coming into Congress, where
Rep. Jay Obernolte co-chairs the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence.
he represents a district that spans San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Kern counties, Obernolte figured his knowledge and background in the tech world would prove to be a resource to his colleagues like it was when he served in the California Legislature for six years. Early on, he was a leader in digital data privacy legislation.
“He's really gifted in explaining all of that to those of us who aren't tech-savvy, in real people terms,”
The theory of artificial intelligence has been around for a long time — it's older than many members of Congress — but federal leaders are just getting started on efforts to rein in the rapidly growing technology.
Co-chaired by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Los Angeles, and Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia, a new group seeks to create guardrails against potential AI threats — such as election interference, weapons manipulation and intellectual property theft — while ensuring the U.S. remains the world leader of this rapidly evolving technology.
Lieu is a computer scientist, and Obernolte is the only member of Congress with a master's degree in AI,
The Earth, moon and sun will align for a total eclipse in some areas of the world Monday. Californians will see a partial eclipse of about 50%.