President Trump and the Myth of American AI

Author(s): 
Publication Type: 
Other Writing
Publication Date: 
March 22, 2019

On February 11, 2019, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order (EO) directing the federal government to promote artificial intelligence (AI). President Trump’s EO aims to stimulate basic research in AI, reduce barriers to innovation, train AI technologists, and protect America’s advantage in AI such as it is. The EO also directs U.S. agencies to look for ways to make federal data more accessible and AI-friendly, i.e., to “prioritize improvements to access and quality of AI data and models.”

I applaud the White House for joining the previous Administration, and governments across the world, in recognizing the importance of AI to contemporary society and the need to establish federal and international policy. I also appreciate the EO’s repeated nods to civil liberties and privacy. Nevertheless, I see at least two issues with the EO: it’s mostly rhetoric, and that rhetoric isn’t ideal.

Read the full piece at Jurist