Policy on the AI Exponential

AI’s exponential progress has created an urgency and a pace of change that the policymaking process is ordinarily ill-equipped to handle. But it has also created a unique window of opportunity. The confluence of clear and present evidence of AI’s risks, an early taste of the AI’s potential for both economic value creation and economic disruption, and a remarkable public backlash against unregulated approaches to AI have created a situation where policymakers are unusually open to forward-looking actions. It’s become popular in AI industry circles to view this as a PR problem: to say that AI needs “better marketing”. I reject this framing completely. People are worried about AI because they correctly perceive that its risks are real, not because AI CEOs have been insufficiently Panglossian. I believe it is my duty as an AI leader to continue to be transparent about these risks, and public concern in response to this transparency constitutes democratic accountability working as it should. The key challenge is focusing this concern into constructive solutions and not allowing it to descend into formless anger and violence. I am optimistic about finding solutions because many of these issues—from addressing job displacement, to pre-release testing of models, to export controls on chips, to other AI related policy issues such as energy use—have a common-sense appeal across the political spectrum. There is an aspirational but realistic future world in which a broad nonpartisan coalition, driven by direct recognition of the challenges posed by AI, leads to sane and forward-looking policies being adopted much faster than usual. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can all share in AI’s incredible benefits.