President Trump gathered today with the nation’s top movers and shakers in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Afterwards, he joined them for an impromptu press conference on the White House driveway, where he attempted to drive home to the world what he views as the message of the confab — that these leaders had all agreed that they would be “morally” bound to ensure AI remains within guardrails to ensure its safety.
At the same time, he announced that AI would no longer be called AI, but SI, or superintelligence. Now, whether this new terminology will stick remains to be seen, as most of what Trump announced outside the presidential palace seemed to fall on unbelieving ears. Even his gathered AI/SI executives seemed split on the direction Trump was pointing the industry toward: self-regulation. The reporters seemed universally skeptical.
At one point, Trump did mention that a safety review committee of ten might be set up, but there was nothing definite about the announcement as to when or who might be involved. We’re still waiting for Trump’s appointment of an AI Czar, announced more than a week ago, though he hinted that the person he had in mind was incredibly suited for the job.
In the indoor meeting preceding the press conference, Trump said, “I will never stifle the growth of technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” which was evident as well in his remarks outside the White House. He has been arguing that excessive regulation would stymie, or even defeat, the nation’s effort to stay ahead of China in the AI/SI race.
All this somehow reminded me of a famous quotation from the movie “Dr. Strangelove,” when General “Buck” Turgidson shouts, “Mr. President, we must not allow a mine-shaft gap!” Mine shafts were being discussed to hide people and assets in a nuclear arms confrontation with the Soviet Union.
