Artificial intelligence has been a tricky subject in Washington.
Most lawmakers agree that it poses significant dangers if left unregulated, yet there remains a lack of consensus on how to tackle these concerns. But speaking at a TIME100 Talks conversation on Friday ahead of the White House Correspondents Dinner, a panel of experts with backgrounds in government, national security, and social justice expressed optimism that the U.S. government will finally “get it right” so that society can reap the benefits of AI while safeguarding against potential dangers.
“We can’t afford to get this wrong—again,” Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Biden Administration, told TIME Senior White House Correspondent Brian Bennett. “The government was already behind the tech boom. Can you imagine if the government is a user of AI and we get that wrong?”
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The panelists agreed that government action is needed to ensure the U.S. remains at the forefront of safe AI innovation. But the rapidly evolving field has raised a number of concerns that can’t be ignored, they noted, ranging from civil rights to national security. “The code is starting to write the code and that’s going to make people very uncomfortable, especially for vulnerable communities,” says Van Jones, a CNN host and social entrepreneur who founded the Dream Machine, a non-profit that fights overcrowded prisons and poverty. “If you have biased data going in, you’re going to have biased decision-making by algorithms coming out. That’s the big fear.”
The U.S. government might not have the best track record of keeping up with emerging technologies, but as AI becomes increasingly ubiquitous, Young says there’s a growing recognition among lawmakers of the need to prioritize understanding, regulation, and ethical governance of AI.
Michael Allen, managing director of Beacon Global Strategies and Former…
