As artificial intelligence insinuates itself into areas that have long been the purview of institutions, humans are still endeavoring, with varying degrees of success, to craft a governance policy for AI. An iteration of this continuing discourse was held recently through the NYU-KAIST Summit on Building Governance Infrastructure for Frontier AI and its related public panel, "Who Should Decide AI’s Future?"
Conference participants acknowledged that frontier AI, comprising the most advanced tools and models that are currently available, can act in ways that are autonomous, opaque and on a scale that is difficult to regulate. This is in contrast to previous technologies, where responsibilities and accountability could be easily and transparently assigned. Notably, when viewed through the lens of frontier AI, ideas that were previously limited to philosophy have expanded their relevance into emerging technologies, including the bioethical principles of informed consent, inequality amplification and general harm accountability. These novel challenges primarily arise in relation to algorithmic biases in decision-making software (recruiting, criminal profiling and healthcare diagnostics) and in generative AI misuse.
The panel discussion, moderated by NYU Center for Bioethics director and GPH faculty member S. Matthew Liao, served to highlight ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence in various contexts. Despite arctic weather, a full house gathered to hear an interdisciplinary array of speakers who, from their unique perspectives and with deep expertise, attempted to answer three questions: What type of governance is still missing from frontier AI? What can we learn from governance structures in other countries? What can we do right now, given the political realities? Panelists included:
- Kwame Anthony Appiah—NYU Silver Professor of Philosophy and the Law, and The Ethicist at The New York Times;
- Kenji Yoshino—Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU Law, and member of the Meta Oversight Board;
- Brad Carson—President of Americans for Responsible Innovation;
- Rorry Daniels—Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute;
- Victoria Nash—Senior Policy Fellow and former director of the Oxford Internet Institute, and
- Seb Krier—Frontier Policy Lead at Google DeepMind.
As AI technologies advance at a breakneck pace, the task of regulation must be in accordance with the values of society—an incredibly difficult challenge. The question raised at the summit, namely, who will make these choices, not only persists but will likely accelerate. Stay tuned to the NYU-KAIST partnership, which seeks answers to these and other pressing questions.
Learn more about NYU-KAIST, and watch the panel discussion.