"Among the many unique experiences of reporting on A.I. is this: In a young industry flooded with hype and money, person after person tells me that they are desperate to be regulated, even if it slows them down. In fact, especially if it slows them down.
What they tell me is obvious to anyone watching. Competition is forcing them to go too fast and cut too many corners. This technology is too important to be left to a race between Microsoft, Google, Meta and a few other firms. But no one company can slow down to a safe pace without risking irrelevancy. That’s where the government comes in — or so they hope."
Image Credit: Matt Edge, The New York Times
What does AI regulation mean in a time with exponential growth in the AI tech industry? The author of this piece argues that A.I. technology is developing too fast and with too many corners being cut due to competition, leaving regulation to be the key solution to ensure safe and responsible development.
They discuss two major proposals to regulate A.I. in the West: the Artificial Intelligence Act proposed by the European Commission and the “Blueprint for an A.I. Bill of Rights” put forward by the White House. However, the author contends that these proposals fall short in regulating A.I. models, particularly large generalized models, that have the potential to cause harm in unexpected ways. The author suggests that curbing the risks associated with A.I. technology requires creating new government institutions to focus on creating regulations and cybersecurity to manage new AI systems.