AI Hearing, Christianity in America, Philadelphia Mayoral Race
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Congress has its sights set on AI. The CEO of ChatGPT will testify at a hearing today. This is a national issue, a country issue, a human issue. Can lawmakers learn enough about the technology to regulate it? I'm Leila Faldin, that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.

New research shows that Americans are distancing themselves from religion, but most of those who are religious think the church should stay out of social issues. So how does religion factor into how people vote? And Philadelphia's mayoral race is getting into issues that will likely be the focus of the 2024 presidential election. Crime, policing, and poverty are at the top of voters' concerns. Stay with us. We've got news you need to start your day. ♪

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Congress is taking a closer look at regulations on artificial intelligence. Yeah, a bipartisan group of House members met last night with Sam Altman, the CEO of the company behind ChatGPT. He'll testify later today for the first time on Capitol Hill. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he's crafting what he hopes will be comprehensive AI guardrails to address growing concerns about the emerging technology.

I want to do this in a bipartisan way. I don't think this is a political issue. This is a national issue, a country issue, a human issue. This week, both Senate and House committees will hold several hearings on AI, and lawmakers say there's plenty more to come. NPR's congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales joins us this morning. All right, this week's hearings, what are they going to be discussing?

Right. Today, we're going to hear from Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which is the company behind ChatGPT. He'll testify before a Senate Judiciary subpanel in a hearing focused on how Congress could regulate this technology. I was outside the room where he met with members for dinner last night behind closed doors, lawmakers afterward.

We're saying that he told them that AI is a powerful tool that can make society better globally, grow the economy, and improve lives. And he also warned against going overboard with regulation. So you could touch on those same themes before the Senate panel today. It's led by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Missouri Republican Josh Hawley. I took a Senate train ride with Hawley recently, and he told me he's worried about privacy issues. I do think that we've got to give privacy

Americans some basic digital privacy rights, and we've got to stop the tracking and the buying and selling of private information without user's consent. I mean, that's just critical. And now we have AI on top of that. It's a reminder Congress has not even been able to address these privacy issues related to social media. And Hawley told me he's also worried about election security, and that's part of a long list of worries. Yeah, but Congress has, what word am I looking at? Oh, lackluster. Lackluster history when it comes to regulating AI. So what are the challenges here?

There are many. Congress is playing catch up. For example, the European Union is years ahead in crafting AI law and then throw in a bitterly divided Congress and that does not bode well. I talked to law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill about this.

We have seen gridlocks in Congress, you know, passing so many laws that we would have thought were nonpartisan issues. So I do believe that the White House, which has access to executive orders and the such, may actually be able to move the needle quicker. And we did see the Biden White House recently roll out some AI initiatives, while Congress has historically missed the regulatory windows on emerging tech like the Internet and social media.

And Ajunwa said another issue is there's a real lack of joint experience in both law and computer science on Capitol Hill for both members and staff. Yeah, but yet we're seeing this race on Capitol Hill as members try to make a legislative mark here, especially as several congressional panels have jurisdiction on AI.

Yes. Today, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will also hold a hearing. They're looking at how federal agencies are using AI. And the chair of Michigan, Senator Gary Peters, told me it's one of many. He's planning an AI hearing every work period. And tomorrow, House Judiciary Subpanel will look at AI and copyright law. And this is as members such as California's Ted Lieu, he filed a resolution earlier this year written by ChatGPT that's a first for Congress pushing for AI regulation. NPR's Claudia Grisales, talk again soon. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

The importance of religion in the lives of Americans is declining. A new report from the Public Religion Research Institute called Religion and Congregations in a Time of Social Upheaval found that a lot of people in this country are leaving Christianity. But for people who do still attend a house of worship, they say they're optimistic about the future. Here to talk us through the data is NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose. Jason, let's start with the decline in importance of religion. What do the numbers show?

Well, A, just 16% of Americans say religion is the most important thing in their lives, according to the PRI study. That's pretty low and down from 20% a decade ago. But the picture changes when you dig a bit deeper by demographic. 38% of Black Protestants and 42% of white evangelical Protestants say religion is most important. Those are the highest numbers of any group.

That, of course, makes sense given both the historic importance of the church as a factor around which black life in America has organized, and it's clear from the political sway of white evangelicals, say against abortion rights or against LGBTQ rights, that that importance of religion remains high there. Still, less than half of even those two groups say religion is the most important thing in their lives. Now, you touched on religion and politics there. What were the findings on how people view that interaction?

PRRI found that just 45% of churchgoers agree with this statement: congregations should get involved in social issues, even if that means having challenging conversations about politics.

But again, things look different if you break down responses demographically. The research shows that Black Protestants are the only Christian group in which a majority, 63%, believe that congregations should get involved in social issues, even if doing so is going to be hard. Here's

Here's Melissa Deckman, the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute. In the last couple of years, of course, concerns about racial justice, having these larger, broader conversations about this and Wake Up Black Lives Matters. I think it's happening in a lot of Black churches as well. And so I think Black churches are more open to having these conversations in their pews. And Deckman also points to the historic connection between Black churches and the civil rights movement. What did the PRRI find about the way religion is changing in America?

Well, Americans are on the move when it comes to belief. 24% of respondents say they previously followed a different faith tradition than the one they practice now. Mostly, they're leaving Christianity or religion altogether. That's a very large number, up significantly from just a few years ago. In 2021, only 16% said they had changed or left their religion.

One thing that hasn't changed, and hasn't changed for decades though, is that houses of worship are still predominantly racially segregated, even though the country as a whole is becoming more and more racially and ethnically diverse. Anything uplifting though for religion in this report?

Well, yes, A. More than eight in 10 churchgoers say they're optimistic about the future of their church, despite all that's affected their congregations in recent years — political divisions, the pandemic, lower attendance. And nearly nine in 10 churchgoers say they're proud to be associated with their church. So for those still attending houses of worship, they're overwhelmingly happy to be there. All right. That's NPR's Jason DeRose. Jason, thanks a lot. You're welcome.

Today, voters in Philadelphia will head to the polls to choose a Democratic nominee who will likely be the next mayor of one of the poorest big cities in the U.S. Yeah, and many are watching the mayoral race in the largest city in this swing state for hints as to what appeals to voters as the 2024 presidential election approaches.

Independent polling shows four candidates have a real chance at getting the Democratic nomination for mayor, and three of them are women. Tom McDonald of member station WHYY has been covering politics in the city for decades. Tom, this is just the race for the Democratic nomination, so why is it being seen as pretty much deciding the election for mayor?

Because the city of Philadelphia is a Democratic stronghold with voter registration at 7 to 1, so this really isn't much of a primary. The winners expected to become the next mayor of Philadelphia. We haven't had a Republican as a mayor since 1952. The final independent poll last weekend put four candidates within striking distance of a win and three of the four are women. That would be a first for the city, including two former members of Philadelphia City Council,

a former council member who has an estimated $400 million personal fortune, and the fourth is a former city controller who is the elected fiscal watchdog of the city. All right, tell us about the candidates in this race. Helen Gimm is a former teacher who became an activist and then a city council member. She's been called the frontrunner by many and has support from both national and local progressives.

AOC and Bernie Sanders headlined a rally on Sunday for her, which her campaign estimated about 35,000 potential voters came out for. She also has the support of both the local and national teachers union, which will supply people to bring out the vote. Sherelle Parker is trailing GIM, but only by a few percentage points. She's going with traditional party support along with a campaign organization that she's been part of for decades through state and local office wins.

Then there's Rebecca Reinhart, the former city controller. She left a career on Wall Street to join city government. She's pitching as someone who can get things done and has the support of three former mayors. And Alan Dahm was in the group. He's part of the statistical tie for the lead. He spent more than $8 million on his campaign out of his own pocket. So there's no doubt he'll spend even more today to bring out the people that knock on the doors and to help people who need a ride to go to the polling places.

Now, whoever wins this election will have an influence in the race for the presidency, helping the city's margin of victory for a Democrat in this swing state where every vote counts as it did in the last election. The eyes of the country were on Philadelphia for several days as the final votes were tallied. All right. So very, very important then. What are the main issues in this race?

As you mentioned at the top, Philadelphia is one of the poorest big cities in the country, and crime and drugs are the big issues. Some neighborhoods have deteriorated so badly, the candidates have taken aim at the outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney, saying he's just not doing his job to fix the city's ills, something he refutes.

One area of note is a drug-infested intersection known as K&A or Kensington-Allegheny. It's been the symbol of the fight against drugs and the city's failing war on drugs, and all the candidates have said they'll clean it up in one way or another. But the big problem is how to fix the problems the city has, and the candidates all have different ideas on how they would deal with the city's issues.

The city's also having problems hiring police officers. After the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Democratic-majority cities across the country were focused on efforts to defund the police, and Philadelphia was sort of one of them. There are about 1,000 officers down and can't keep up with attrition in the city, and there's about 800 correction officers down, which resulted in the first escape in decades. That's Tom McDonald of member station WHYY. Appreciate you speaking with us. Thank you.

And that's Up First for Tuesday, May 16th. I'm A. Martinez. And I'm Leila Faldin. Up First is produced by Claire Marashima and Shelby Hawkins. Our editors are Mohamed El-Bardisi and Alice Wolfley. Our technical director is Zach Coleman. Start your day here with us tomorrow. And thanks for waking up with NPR. Your NPR station makes Up First possible each and every morning. Support them and support us at donate.npr.org slash upfirst.