A Congressman Goes to A.I. School + How to Ban TikTok

Representative Don Beyer thinks artificial intelligence is “the most amazing technology since fire.” So what does it mean that most of Congress seems not to understand it? Then our colleague David McCabe discusses a bill that could dramatically expand the Biden administration’s power to ban TikTok.Plus: what can the video game character Waluigi tell us about A.I. chatbots gone rogue?On today’s episode:Don Beyer is a U.S. representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.David McCabe is a reporter at The New York Times covering technology policy.Additional reading:Lawmakers are trying to understand the technology behind A.I.The White House is pushing Congress to regulate TikTok.A number of countries are trying to ban TikTok.The Waluigi effect is a theory about why chatbots behave erratically. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.