a) What current AI-related issues, developments, or decisions do you find especially relevant to contemporary society? Craft a short post to give your classmates an overview of the issues involved and why it’s so important.
Currently, I think there is an issue with how the US is approaching the dissemination of its AI technology. The Biden-Harris Administration implemented an interim final rule (meaning it became a rule immediately without review) called the AI Diffusion Rule. The AI Diffusion Rule restricts the export of US-made computing chips (GPUs) and closed-weight (proprietary models) above a certain computational power threshold (10^26 FLOPs). The point of this rule is to increase US national security from AI-driven threats (surveillance, misinformation, weapons) by limiting adversarial countries from accessing advanced, US-made AI technology. Furthermore, the rule seeks to maintain or even increase US dominance in the global AI technological market. However, I believe this rule achieves neither of those goals.
In a very very broad sense, to actually restrict these exports, the AI Diffusion rule creates a tiered system that categorizes countries based on their perceived geopolitical alignment with the US. Tier 1 contains 18 trusted allies who get unrestricted access to US AI tech. Tier 2 comprises 150 countries, some of which are EU allies, and these countries face significant limitations in their access to US AI technology. Tier 2 countries are essentially being told that they will never be able to achieve a level of AI access or capability as these tier 1 countries. Lastly, tier 3 countries are adversaries to the US and are unable to access US AI technology.
The rule also places limits on where and how much US tech companies can expand their AI operations. While I do not have the word count to explain the exact limitations, they are significant and have pissed off quite a few companies (Oracle, Nvidia, MSFT, and Google). The main issue is that the AI Diffusion Rule stifles innovation by shrinking the market in which US-based tech companies can raise capital for research and development. This could significantly hurt the chances of the US maintaining a hold on their leadership in the global AI market. This would , in turn, hurt US national security. Also, the tiered framework alienates a lot of tier 2 countries by placing a US imposed limit on their AI ambitions despite some of them being US allies (Israel, Poland, etc…).
Trump has recently commented on this rule in passing but has not ruled on what changes will be made. I think this is something important to watch.
https://www.cfr.org/blog/what-know-about-new-us-ai-diffusion-policy-and-export-controls
b) How will you integrate AI in your life – if at all?
Capable GenerativeAI is a new field that is not entirely understood in terms of its full potential and applicability. Furthermore, this AI technology is evolving rapidly. Nonetheless, I believe in a few core principles that should remain consistent. The principles that I have regarding AI in academic policy are AI use transparency, citation consistency, literacy, and equitable accessibility. I hold these principles in the hope that the stigma around the use of AI in academia can be reduced. No matter how the technology evolves, these principles should remain constant in academic use of generativeAI.
Transparency involves the acknowledgement of the specific role of AI in one’s work. Citation consistency refers to the consistent citation of AI in academia. While citation style may differ across disciplines, the goals of transparency should be consistently met. AI literacy refers to a baseline understanding of the benefits (research, brainstorming, etc.) and limitations of AI (bias, hallucination, data privacy issues, etc.). Those who use AI in academia should possess this foundational knowledge to ethically and adequately use AI in academia. Lastly, equitable access to AI is key to having its use accepted in the academic domain where a fair playing field is key. I plan to integrate AI into my life in this manner as I continue my academic studies.
Your response to question ‘a’ was specifically very interesting to me. I think it is incredibly frusterating how much our trade has been. I think you points on the general international relations is really important. China especially is working its way up to becoming a technological superpower. This is a large threat to other nations, especially the US. I think our general educational and security development (with AI) can only be increased if we work with many other nations.