What to know about today’s AI summit at the White House

 

By Chris Morris

As concerns about the long-term implications of generative artificial intelligence continue to grow, the White House on Thursday summoned some of the top executives in the AI field to come to Washington, D.C., to discuss the technology.

It’s a scene that has played out many times before. (In 2018, for example, Donald Trump called for a summit of video game executives after he blamed video games as a possible reason for the Parkland school shooting.) The stakes this time, however, seem a bit more real. IBM, earlier this week, said it plans to pause hiring for roles it believes could be done by artificial intelligence, which could impact 7,800 jobs in the next five years. And Dropbox has already laid off 500 people with CEO Drew Houston pointing to AI as part of the reason for the company’s strategic shift.

The bigger fear is what’s further down the road for AI. Critics have warned for some time about the spread of misinformation. And in March, more than 1,000 tech leaders and researchers (including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak) signed an open letter warning of “profound risks to society and humanity” and called for a six-month moratorium on development. And just this week, Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called godfather of AI, quit his job at Google to speak out against the risks of the technology, saying he, to some degree, regretted his life’s work on AI. 

That’s the sort of thing that gets Washington’s attention.

Who’s at the White House Thursday talking about the future of AI and what might come of the meeting? Here’s a quick look at what we know.

Why did this meeting take place?

The rapidly growing number of warnings about AI’s present and potential future have managed to capture the attention of both the White House and Congress. Both the creators of AI technology and the government are trying to get a sense of what sort of impact it might have on everything from employment numbers to geopolitical events.

“We aim to have a frank discussion of the risks we each see in current and near-term AI development, actions to mitigate those risks, and other ways we can work together to ensure the American people benefit from advances in AI while being protected from its harms,” White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director Arati Prabhakar wrote in the invitation that went out to executives.

Which executives attended the meeting?

It’s pretty much a who’s who of the AI world. Among the executives in attendance are Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai; and Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI.

Apple is releasing its earnings Thursday afternoon and did not attend.

Which officials were at the meeting?

President Biden was not scheduled to attend the two-hour meeting, but reportedly “dropped by.” Vice President Kamala Harris was at the head of the table. She was joined by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan.

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Will this meeting result in AI guidelines?

Probably not. Regulation moves slowly, even when a political party has firm control over both the White House and Congress. But given the speed at which AI is evolving, government officials are trying to get ahead of potential future issues early in AI’s lifespan, having seen the price of not doing so with social media less than two decades ago.

The meeting is part of a broader effort by the administration to talk with advocates, researchers, civil rights organizations, and others in order to examine the benefits and risks of AI.

What else is the White House doing around AI these days?

While the government clearly has concerns about AI’s potential, it also seemingly recognizes its inevitability and usefulness. 

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, the White House announced plans to invest $140 million to create seven AI research hubs. “In addition to promoting responsible innovation, these Institutes bolster America’s AI R&D infrastructure and support the development of a diverse AI workforce,” officials said in a statement. “The new Institutes announced today will advance AI R&D to drive breakthroughs in critical areas, including climate, agriculture, energy, public health, education, and cybersecurity.”

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