So IT support leaders and Silicon Valley billionaires aren’t the only ones that have their eye on artificial intelligence. Global political leaders do as well. In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin said whoever controls AI controls the world. Well, US President Trump takes on artificial intelligence.
So today, they expect President Trump to sign an executive order that promotes AI. This is years in the making. Because many in IT service put pressure on him to do this. Trump calls this the ‘American A.I. Initiative’. One focus is education. This doesn’t just mean in the schools, but especially in the workforce. This includes improving services like cloud computing. It also includes improving data to build A.I. systems. Furthermore, it even includes worldwide partnerships about AI.
These are great starts. However, there are a couple of worries. First of all, they didn’t set up a budget of this AI initiative. It’s not going to be cheap. Also, many complain it’s still pretty vague. Maybe we will learn more about it after this signing. But it is a start. And it needs to start now. Because in 2017, China pledged $150 billion to become the greatest A.I. power in the world. Keep in mind the trade war between the US and China right now. Governments like Canada, United Kingdom, Russia and Singapore are also in a hurry be A.I. greats.
There are other reasons President Trump takes on artificial intelligence. It’s not just the race for jobs, education, and technology. Because AI could determine weapons and warfare and could be a threat to our national security. Our potential enemies know it. But here is one thing I wish this initiative addresses: the moral questions of AI. This is why I’m so weary of AI. It’s a threat to our jobs. It’s also a threat to our privacy (or what little of it still exists). But now, they can also lead to outright war, maybe even outright human annihilation. What do you think of the American A.I. Initiative?