Something just changed in D.C., not with a bang, not even with a whimper, but with a policy. The White House just put forward a national AI strategy, and while some are calling it a huge step forward, others think it’s just the beginning. The gist of the proposal, is to get all the states and their various AI legislations in line. Obviously, that sounds good on paper, but is that ever the way it plays out in reality?
The new framework, is all about getting the U.S. to keep up with other global powers, like China and Europe, in the AI game. Fair enough. I mean, no one really wants to cede dominance of the AI universe to anyone, but especially not China. But that’s neither here nor there.
As laid out, the framework is heavy on competitiveness, and light on some of the thornier issues, like national security concerns, or how AI will affect people IRL, that others are calling out as being absent from the proposal.
There’s also the question of moving too fast, vs. moving too slow, which seems to be the eternal conundrum when it comes to tech and AI. But I digress.
What does any of this mean for you and me? The framework talks about AI in terms of the economy, and, you know, the future of humanity, but it doesn’t say a ton about the specifics of how it will all play out. For workers, for students, for small businesses. That seems to be the thing that makes people the most nervous.
It does talk about children, and online protections for them, which is obviously important. But still. It also, as an aside, talks a lot about energy, which isn’t something we discuss enough when we talk about AI. Those computers take a lot of juice to run, and as AI expands, that’s something that could become a real issue.
Last but not least, there’s a political dimension to all of this: the White House is trying to use this framework to calm down all the legislating the states have been doing on their own. Some think that’s a good idea, others think it’s a power grab. Chicken, egg, glass half full, etc.
So what’s the takeaway here? The U.S. is serious about AI, and is committed to being a leader in the space. But it’s still early days yet.