You know it's serious when Congress holds a hearing ...



When technology develops to the point where real-world applications start to have an impact, it usually ends up in front of Congress for a hearing. This shows everyone that Congress is paying attention to cutting-edge issues and it plays an important role in helping to define Federal interests and necessary action. The first ever Congressional hearing on artificial intelligence was held  November 30, 2016 by the Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee.
AI Hearing


The Federal government has some key objectives relative to AI:
1) Make sure that the U.S. is able to take competitive advantage of the technology. We hate to get behind in anything since 1957.
2) Related to #1--remove any unintentional barriers that hinder the new technology from being implemented.
3) Opposite to #2--make sure we properly limit/regulate/address negative consequences of the new technology through the establishment of new policy


Alice Bean should weigh in on how the Federal government is likely to develop policy around AI technology. She served a State Department fellowship focused on science and policy.


Right now Congress is in a facilitative position. They want to enable adoption of self-driving cars and the expanded use of UAV's. They are being careful about having the FAA and NHTSA look at safety issues, however they are still in the optimistic zone touting reduced highway deaths, expanded economy, new high-tech jobs, less pollution, more apple pie. Sen. Nelson finally raised the question of job displacement about minute 32 of the hearing. Dr. Horvitz notes that we are "at an inflection point" right now with dramatically expanding AI capability. Benefits and impacts will accelerate. Dr. Moore suggests that we need a Scholarship for Service program for AI like we have for cybersecurity. Mr. Brockman notes that AI moves from basic research to products in a matter of months, not years. The panel's Q&A starts at about 1 hour.


This kind of discussion is often the lead-in to new funding opportunities--stay tuned to see how agencies respond.



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