U.S. President Joe Biden has met with a group of technology leaders to discuss the risks and potential of artificial intelligence (A.I.).
Biden met in San Francisco with Tristan Harris, Executive Director of the Center for Human Technology; Jim Steyer, Chief Executive of Common Sense Media; and Joy Buolamwin, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, among other industry leaders.
The Biden administration said the president is seeking to understand how best to safeguard people from the potential dangers of A.I.
The White House is considering how to regulate A.I. so as to nurture its potential for economic growth and also protect against its potential dangers, especially when it comes to U.S. national security.
The emergence of A.I. chatbots such as ChatGPT has led to billions of dollars of investment in the sector. However, prominent tech leaders have warned about the risks posed by A.I.
The new technology could replace millions of workers worldwide, lead to a greater number of false images and videos (known as deep fakes) and become a vehicle for mass disinformation that undermines governments and economies.
Consequently, governments are looking at ways to regulate the use of A.I. before a catastrophe occurs. The European Union has already passed legislation aimed at reigning in the technology.
Biden said to reporters ahead of the A.I. meeting that social media has already shown the harm technology can do “without the right safeguards in place.”
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients’ office is developing a set of actions the federal government in Washington, D.C. can take regarding A.I., according to the Biden administration.
A timetable for the introduction of legislation aimed at regulating A.I. in the U.S. has not been set.
