{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=797B344B-FD1B-4A30-B07D-FBE41145EE66", "Wicker Convenes Hearing on Artificial Intelligence Technologies", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "MS", "Roger Wicker", "W000437", "www.wicker.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, today conducted a hearing to explore the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in the digital economy and best practices to ensure proper use of this technology.\r\nDr. Cindy Bethel, an Associate Professor at Mississippi State University\u2019s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, participated in today\u2019s hearing.\r\nIn his opening statement, Wicker said, \u201cThe excitement surrounding this technology is deserved. AI has the potential to transform our economy.\u00a0 AI\u2019s ability to process and sort through troves of data can greatly inform human decision-making and processes across industries, including agriculture, health care, and transportation. In turn, businesses can be more productive, profitable, and efficient in their operations.\r\n\u201cAs AI systems mature and become more accurate in their descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive capabilities, there are issues that should be addressed to ensure the responsible development and use of this technology.\u00a0 Some of these issues include: understanding how data is gathered; what data is provided for an intelligent machine to analyze; and how algorithms are programmed by humans to make certain predictions.\u00a0 Moreover, understanding how the human end-user interacts with or responds to the digital decision \u2013 and how humans interpret or explain decisions of the AI system over time \u2013 will also need to be addressed.\u201d\r\nThe software industry supports 7,000 jobs in Mississippi and contributes more than $800 million to the state\u2019s economy.\r\nOther witnesses at today\u2019s hearing included:\r\n \r\nMr. Daniel Castro, Vice President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation;\r\nMs. Victoria Espinel, Chief Executive Officer, BSA \u2013 The Software Alliance;\r\nDr. Edward Felten, Ph.D., Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs, Princeton University; and\r\nDr. Dario Gil, Ph.D., Vice President, IBM Research AI and IBM Q, IBM.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=797B344B-FD1B-4A30-B07D-FBE41145EE66"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6525131650269032, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}