This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org
By Jake Johnson
US Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that policymakers in the United States and around the world are at a critical juncture where they must decide whether artificial intelligence will be controlled and exploited by the ultra-wealthy—or utilized for the benefit of all humanity.
In a speech on the floor of the US Senate, Sanders (I-Vt.) said the key question is, “Who will be in charge of the transformation into an AI world?”
“Currently, a handful of the wealthiest people on Earth—people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and others—and others are investing many, many hundreds of billions of dollars in developing and implementing AI and robotics,” the senator said. “Are we comfortable with seeing these enormously wealthy and powerful men shape the future of humanity without any democratic input or oversight?”
Sanders noted that US President Donald Trump “is strongly supporting” billionaire dominance of burgeoning AI technology, including with his plan to sign an executive order aimed at blocking state-level regulations of the artificial intelligence industry.
“Does this elite group of some of the most powerful people on Earth believe that they have the divine right to rule?” the senator asked.
Sanders also emphasized the potentially catastrophic impact of AI technology on workers, as Amazon and other corporate giants seek to replace as many jobs as possible with robots. In October, Sanders released a report estimating that advances in AI technology could supplant nearly 100 million US jobs over the next decade, including 89% of fast food workers and 40% of registered nurses.
“If AI and robotics eliminate millions of jobs and create massive unemployment, how will people survive if they have no income? How do they feed their families, pay for housing, pay for healthcare?” Sanders asked. “That might be an issue that we should be talking about, like, yesterday.”
In recent weeks, Sanders has made burgeoning AI technology and its concentration in the hands of a few powerful individuals and corporations a major focus, holding an event with computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton—who is known as the “godfather of AI”—and warning about the promise and peril of artificial intelligence in the pages of major newspapers.
“AI and robotics are revolutionary technologies that will bring about an unprecedented transformation of society,” Sanders wrote in a Guardian column last week. “Will these changes be positive and improve life for ordinary Americans? Or will they be disastrous? Congress must act now.”
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