Steve Bannon and others in MAGA world beg Trump to control AI
A bunch of the MAGA movement’s artificial intelligence skeptics just released some ideas on how to rein in AI companies. But their so-called solutions are ripe for authoritarian manipulation.
In an open letter to President Donald Trump, various conservative influencers and allied lawmakers, including Trump whisperer Steve Bannon and “Stop the Steal” activist Amy Kremer, expressed concerns about AI’s potential to wreak havoc on society. Bannon has counted himself among the Trump supporters concerned about the administration’s alignment with uber-rich, power-hungry tech bros, such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Such skepticism is justified. But the letter writers’ solution to the rise of increasingly powerful AI? Not so much, in my view.
Right off the bat, the letter’s cosigners, who write under the banner of “Humans First,” shower their leader with some gushing praise utterly detached from reality:
America under your leadership has led the world through strength and wisdom, not recklessness. We urge you to continue with this, and apply that principle to artificial intelligence, taking decisive action to ensure that the most powerful AI systems in the world are properly vetted before they can threaten our national security, our children, American workers and the American way of life.
As the letter continues, the cosigners make clear they want to formalize a plan Trump has sought to implement: a requirement that the government vet AI tools before they are made available. After saying their concerns include AI-assisted bioweapons, they wrote:
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