Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following opening statement during a full Committee hearing entitled, “AI Innovation Explored: Insights into AI Applications in Financial Services and Housing.”

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning. I’d like to start by applauding and thanking Chair McHenry for working with me to establish the Committee’s Bipartisan Working Group on Artificial Intelligence. After months of roundtables, moderated by Representatives Hill and Lynch with regulators and experts, we released a report detailing the implications of AI, including newer Generative AI models, on financial services and housing. I’m pleased that this report lays out several recommendations for the Committee to better protect consumers and our markets as AI is increasingly adopted. For example, the report makes clear that this Committee must lead the House in overseeing AI and that we must ensure our regulators enforce existing laws, including anti-discrimination laws and policies, so that any benefits of AI are broadly shared.

Today’s bipartisan hearing, the Working Group, and the report successfully build off the work this Committee started under my leadership as Chair when I stood up in Congress’ first-ever Task Force on AI in 2019. Chaired by Mr. Foster, this Task Force held more than a dozen hearings exploring the potential risks and benefits of AI. This Task Force is part of a long list of efforts by Democrats to oversee new technologies, and to ensure they are developed in the best interests of consumers.

As companies forge ahead with AI, it’s more important than ever that this Committee and Congress, not only continue this kind of oversight, but prioritize its review of AI and diversity, equity, and inclusion. As we know, AI is built by humans and relies on data that may reflect bias and systemic inequities or perpetuate discrimination.

For instance, people of color looking to secure mortgage loans have been denied or overcharged significantly as a result of discriminatory algorithms. However, responsibly crafted AI may help expand financial access for consumers, aspiring homeowners, renters, and businesses, while removing barriers to economic mobility.

For this reason, I am pleased that this hearing is also considering my draft legislation, which would better inform consumers when products and services incorporate AI, what data is used to train AI-based decisions, and provide regulators with the origin of the data used by AI. The Treasury issued this recommendation in its report entitled, “Managing AI-Specific Cybersecurity Risks,” “the [financial] sector would benefit from a standardized description, similar to the food ‘nutrition label,’ for vendor-provided AI systems and data providers.” I’m also pleased that we are considering Representative Pettersen’s legislation, Preventing Deep Fake Scams Act, in this hearing, which sets up a Task Force to examine how banks and credit unions can protect themselves and their customers and members from fraud associated with AI. Through efforts like these, we can build more transparent and equitable systems, as well as trust, and safety in an increasingly AI-driven world.

I look forward to today’s discussion, and I yield back.

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