On May 10, in the White House AI Summit, the government announced the creation of a Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence. As part of the discussion an American political journalism company, Politico, organized a discussion last Wednesday, in which experts pointed out some consequential remarks on global AI leadership.

It is to be noted that the all the leading countries have been making serious efforts in supporting R&D on AI in the public sector, ever since Russian president Vladimir Putin stated that whoever leads AI will become the global leader in the future in last year’s open lesson on science. He said, “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world”

With the ever-growing pervasiveness of AI, its utility in rescue efforts, and the grave political issues like that formed by Deep Fake hints to the growing need for the US administration to get more involved with the progress of AI. In such situations, president Trump administration’s “hands-off” approach may cost the US a major delay in the growth. However it was only a while ago, the administration had defended its approach by stating that AI is still in its early stage, and any involvement from the government would stifle its budding growth. To counter this argument, experts from the Politico panel pointed out that there is a difference between stifling the AI growth with unnecessary regulations, and solving the contemporary issues in the industry. On the issue, Congressman John Delaney, founder of the Congressional AI Caucus, has said, “Administration’s notion that AI isn’t already upon us, or the view that it’s not already affecting our lives in very profound ways … is in fact short-sighted. The toothpaste is already out of the tube”

The experts then concluded that even though the present situations haven’t done enough to spur the government’s participation in AI growth, competition certainly will. Illustrating the role of Sputnik which compells the government to get more involved in the space programs and the consequent growth in the area, experts suggest that the same could happen with AI when the administration would become sensible towards China’s and other competitors’ rapid growth in the sector.

China, the experts suggest, poses the biggest threat to the US in its race for AI dominance. Only recently, the country has announced a huge investment of $16 billion to support the AI industry in the country, and has plans for making AI a domestic industry worth $150 billion by the year 2030.

Though the numbers are still in the odds of the US which holds the maximum number of the industry’s best innovators, the authoritarian rule of China can allow it to speed up its progress and win the global race in AI. Furthermore, the US has already come to the position where it can flag specific areas in which more AI research can lead to having the biggest impact on national interest. In addition to that, there is also an ethical triumph if the US manages to establish global AI dominance, as it will be in the better position to set ethical standards for AI applications then an authoritarian country like China.

Resources:

https://www.politico.com/live-events/2018/07/11/the-new-age-of-innovation-governments-role-in-artificial-intelligence-649395

https://www.rt.com/news/401731-ai-rule-world-putin/

https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2018/07/us-needs-national-strategy-artificial-intelligence-lawmakers-and-experts-say/149639/