Here’s a riddle for you: What do Republican political strategist Steve Bannon, Democratic Congresswoman Lori Trahan, Catholic Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, MIT physicist Max Tegmark, activist actress Ashley Judd, staunch conservative Chip Roy, and democratic socialist Bernie Sanders have in common?
They, and many others like them, attended the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, DC, to speak about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence and the urgent need for federal action. The mingling of speakers with such wildly divergent views made multiple headlines today; I attended as well, and it felt equal parts bizarre and deeply inspiring to see such normally disparate groups find common ground.
The event centered on the Pro-Human Declaration, a public call for oversight of AI that has garnered more than a million signatories since its March debut, from a similarly diverse coalition. Among its demands is an end to the race to superintelligence, and the organizers echoed this call as their foremost point during yesterday’s assembly.
The gathering brought together scientists, faith leaders, and policymakers of both parties, and included a heart-wrenching panel of parents who lost children to chatbot-assisted suicides. All had different things to say about how humanity ought to navigate a future involving AI, but one matter found broad agreement: it should not fall to AI companies to decide how that future unfolds. That responsibility lies with all of us.
It has been a long time since I’ve felt this much hope for our future as a species. I was particularly moved by the attendance of right-wing figures like Texas representative Chip Roy, who POLITICO quotes:
If we allow technology to fundamentally alter and transfer and change the way we make decisions about our society and our Republican form of government, then what do we have left? [...] We, the people, have to decide how we want to structure our lives.
Republicans have not been silent about the dangers of AI — the alarmed response to Jacob Coxon’s resignation included several GOP policymakers — but I’ve been concerned for a while that added public pressure and scrutiny might crystallize AI-related concerns into politically-charged talking points. I worry more when I see several outlets continuing to amplify the administration’s dismissals of AI threats.
But many otherwise staunchly MAGA supporters have pushed back, and there are other positive signs the issue hasn’t yet been deeply polarized. Texas Republican Nathaniel Moran has likened the AI race to the Cold War, and pointed out that China’s dependence on U.S. computer chips could be a useful lever in much-needed negotiations. Fox News ran an op-ed by retired Army officer Robert Maginnis that acknowledges the calls to stay ahead of China but says an unrestricted race is its own danger: “Every laboratory races because its rivals race. Every nation accelerates because it fears falling behind.”
Last week, AP News observed senators from both parties demanding answers from OpenAI about the Hugging Face incident. For now, the issue of AI danger still crosses party lines.
For the sake of our families and our country alike, Americans cannot allow this to become a purely partisan fight. We need more voices — especially conservative ones — calling for a halt to this deadly race, and for negotiations with China to make it stick.
The analyses and opinions expressed on AI StopWatch reflect the views of the individual contributors and the sources they cover, and should not be taken as official positions of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.