Artificial intelligence (AI) is the proverbial genie that's not going back in the bottle, so it is in our interest to figure out how to live with it. President Donald Trump seems to understand this. On Saturday, President Trump made an announcement that is sure to rattle a few cages on both sides of the artificial intelligence (AI) issue. He announced the formation of a new agency, an "AI Force," and said he would be naming an "AI Czar" to head up the operation.
President Trump announced he was creating a new “AI Force” and designating a new AI “czar” Saturday to keep the industry from engaging in bad practices – after doubling down that fears of AI superintelligence are just another “hoax.”
Trump compared a brewing panic over AI to a series of other events he has branded hoaxes.
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He compared the “crazed Data Center attack” to an effort “going straight at AI.”
His Truth Social post states (paragraph breaks added for clarity):
Over the years, there have been many Hoaxes, all generated by the Radical Left Dumocrats, for purposes of destroying our Country. RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, Global Warming, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, Men in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, and now, the decimation, or destruction, of AI, commonly known as Artificial Intelligence — And I, as President of the United States, will not stand by and let this happen.
The president may have specified "American AI," as other nations, like China, are already working on surpassing American efforts in this arena.
It all began with an attack on our Data Centers, until people realized how wealthy and prestigious they were for the Communities in which they were built. Higher Salaries, Lower Taxes, and Safer Streets, was the result, and the crazed Data Center attack has largely failed, so now, in much the same way as they changed the term “Global Warming” to “Climate Change,” in that it covers a much larger “territory” of doubt, they are going straight at AI. We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry.
Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows! However, we will also be looking for BAD, and we can do that, very easily, with our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System. For this purpose, I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force, which has been a tremendous SUCCESS, in my First Term. To that end, I will be announcing, in the near future, the AI “Czar” — Only High I.Q. individuals need apply! AI is the next Industrial Revolution, or Internet, but will be even larger and more impactful, possibly as much as 25% of our Country’s GDP. We are leading China, and the rest of the World, and I intend to keep it that way! President DONALD J. TRUMP
The announcement coincides with Congress seeking to rein in or at least regulate AI platforms.
As of this writing, the president hasn't offered any names for the proposed post of AI Czar, nor has he indicated what form this AI Force would take or to whom the organization would report.
It's not clear what the federal government can do to "cherish it, help it, and watch over it," when the best thing Washington could do in any business venture is to stay out of the way. But, admittedly, AI is a little different. We, as in human society as a whole, are in the third great societal revolution in human history. The first was the Agricultural Revolution, when farming started to allow a division of labor and the development of the first cities and governments. The second was the Industrial Revolution, which launched the modern technological age. Now we are in the Information Revolution, and AI is just the latest development in this new age.
It may not be the worst idea to have someone keeping an eye on it — and, more to the point, what nations like China, Russia and Iran are doing. That would seem to be what the president has in mind.