Senate Hosts Meeting on AI without Ethicists

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW128403539 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">Recently, the U.S. Senate</span> <span data-contrast="none"><a href= "https://apnews.com/article/schumer-artificial-intelligence-elon-musk-senate-efcfb1067d68ad2f595db7e92167943c"> held a closed-door meeting</a> with</span> <span data-contrast= "none">the biggest names from the world of big tech, such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg. Senate leadership informed the media that the purpose of the meeting was to have a conversation about how the federal government could “encourage” the development of</span> <a href= "https://www.breakpoint.org/ai-is-inspired-by-human-intelligence/"><span data-contrast="none"> artificial intelligence</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">while also mitigating its “risks.”</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Given that focus, it’s more interesting who</span> <em><span data-contrast= "none">wasn’t</span></em> <span data-contrast="none">invited than who was: no ethicists, philosophers, or theologians, nor really anyone outside the highly specialized tech sector. For a meeting meant to explore the future direction of AI and the ethics necessary to guide it, nearly everyone in that room had a vested financial interest in its continued growth and expansion. </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Thirty years ago, in his book</span> <a href= "https://colsoncenter.christianbook.com/technopoly-the-surrender-culture-to-technology/neil-postman/9780679745402/pd/745408?event=ESRCG"> <em><span data-contrast="none">Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology</span></em></a><span data-contrast="none">, cultural critic Neil Postman described how technology was radically reshaping our understanding of life and the world, both as individuals and societies.</span> <span data-contrast="none">Too often when it comes to new technologies, we