The White House Is Finally Prepping for an AI-Powered Future

by April Glaser,  Wired.Com

Researchers disagree on when artificial intelligence that displays something like human understanding might arrive. But the Obama administration isn’t waiting to find out. The White House says the government needs to start thinking about how to regulate and use the powerful technology while it is still dependent on humans.

“The public should have an accurate mental model of what we mean when we say artificial intelligence,” says Ryan Calo, who teaches law at University of Washington. Calo spoke last week at the first of four workshops the White House hosts this summer to examine how to address an increasingly AI-powered world.

The White House is adamant the government must determine how to regulate and utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology before it gets out of control.

“AI is making policy challenges already, such as how to make sure the technology remains safe, controllable, and predictable, even as it gets much more complex and smarter,” says Ed Felten, deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer. “Some of these issues will become more challenging over time as the technology progresses, so we’ll need to keep upping our game.”

Although AI tech has yet to possess a true sense of autonomy, scholars and policy experts are worried the massive datasets such algorithms are trained on include existing biases and structural inequities. Microsoft researcher Kate Crawford emphasizes the need to instill accountability for such data, if AI is to be used in deciding such things as mortgage and job allocations, or parole for convicts.

Meanwhile, University of South Carolina professor Bryant Walker Smith says with AI decision-making increasingly critical to tech still in development–such as driverless cars–regulation could hinder building safer and more responsible systems. Meanwhile, the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy has an inter-agency mission to determine regulation and oversight for AI already in use, such as unmanned drones.  Read the article.