Jimmy Pan compares AI hype to biotech and pharma industry claims

Council, Speaker, Chair, thank you very much for this hearing today.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

My name is Jimmy Pan.

I'm the Executive Director of a small city agency called the New York City Equal Employment Practices Commission.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

I wasn't planning on testifying today, to be honest, even though I think our work touches on a lot of the issues that came up today and on this panel.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

I decided to testify because a lot of what I heard today actually reminds me of the types of issues I was hearing two decades ago.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

So before I became a lawyer, I was in another frontier technology.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

I was a biotechnology researcher.

And then the claims that companies were putting forward as to why we needed biotechnology despite the risks.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

Where that could solve issues like world hunger.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

The implication being, if you're opposed to biotechnology, then you're dooming kids to hunger around the world.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

But of course, the part that goes unsaid is that hunger, for example, is not a technology issue.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

It's a distribution issue.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

To analogize to today,

We don't have a hunger issue in the U.S.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

We choose not to, for example, give school lunches for free.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

Let's fast forward a little bit.

I became a lawyer, took on the pharmaceutical industry.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

The pharmaceutical industry is another one of these frontier industries that says, you have to allow us to innovate, you can't regulate us.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

Otherwise, people won't have these life-saving drugs.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

Again, presenting this narrative that if you regulate this industry, if you cap prices, you're

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

for people who are going to suffer from these diseases.

I think we heard some remnants of that today.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

But again, I want to emphasize to this regulatory body that if we care about innovation and if we care about improving lives for people, there are many, many paths to innovation.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

There are policy choices that we make as a nation that put people's lives at risk.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

We are currently defunding health systems.

We are currently not providing good education.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

We're making choices on a policy framework.

And I think a lot of these companies are saying, well, look, all these issues you have today, AI can solve that, and you need us there at the table.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.

I think that's a false narrative.

Thank you so much for your testimony.

And you actually heard the deputy commissioner say that, that they can't find somebody inside of New York City to say that.