History Rhymes: 1996 Telecommunications Act and Artificial Intelligence

This essay examines how the national government’s strategy three decades ago shaped the global information environment of today. This will show that humans can use the power of government to do more good than harm. They can win and deserve the trust of the people they are sworn to serve. It is also intended to explain why the lessons of the grand strategy adopted for digital communications three decades ago suggest it is time to create an Artificial Intelligence Commission. This agency should report to Congress and the Executive Branch, work with state governments, and transparently engage with the nonprofit and for-profit sectors where massive talent is already dedicated to pushing to the limit the capability of artificial intelligence. This amazing technological breakthrough plainly has immense potential to benefit the United States and humanity, and at the same time could create significant disruption, or worse.