Politics and AI, A Tete-a-Tete in San Francisco
The city known for its Golden Gate Bridge and a certain tech-centric valley played host to a grand powwow between President Joe Biden, Governor Gavin Newsom, and a bevy of other officials. The headliner on the docket? You guessed it – Artificial Intelligence (AI). The whispers of AI risks to national security and economy, once relegated to coffee shop chatter and Reddit threads, now command the attention of the highest echelons of power.
Steering the AI Ship
The U.S. President, with an air of responsibility, intoned the need to keep a stern eye on the AI landscape. “The goal of my administration is to secure Americans’ rights and safety, ensure privacy, combat bias and misinformation, and ascertain the safety of AI systems before they go live,” said Biden from a stage in San Francisco.
Not to be confused with an advertisement for a sci-fi thriller, these words paint a portrait of a future where AI is as ubiquitous as a smartphone but needs a watchdog just as vigilant.
AI Rules, Who’s Got The Rulebook?
The surge in AI’s popularity, partly a result of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has been akin to catching lightning in a bottle. The technology’s rapid ascendancy has seen governments around the world rushing to mitigate the potential hazards it poses.
Regulatory bodies worldwide are in a high-stakes race to form a rulebook for generative AI, a technology with the capability to create text and images. Its impact, fans argue, is on par with the Internet’s revolutionary advent. And you thought trying to understand your phone’s privacy settings was complicated.
International AI Safety Summit: A First Of Its Kind
In the corridors of global leadership, AI is increasingly a topic of fervent discussion. Biden has been engaging with other world leaders, including Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, about the implications of AI. Sunak’s government is set to host a first-ever global summit on AI safety later this year. Now there’s an RSVP you don’t want to miss.
In the meantime, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his ongoing U.S. visit, is also expected to engage in conversation about AI with Biden. One can only hope that the samosas served at the meeting are as intriguing as the agenda.
