What Are the Perils and Promise of Artificial Intelligence?

Warnings about the dangers of artificial intelligence are ubiquitous. Last March, Elon Musk signed an open letter stating that AI threatened the future of humanity. The United Kingdom is planning to host a summit meeting this fall to discuss AI. What are the perils and promises of this new technology?

The Center for the National Interest invited two experts on AI to discuss the issue on Thursday, July 6.

Samuel Hammond is senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation. His research focuses on the effectiveness of cash transfers in alleviating poverty, and how free markets can be complemented by robust systems of social insurance. He previously worked as an economist for the Government of Canada specializing in rural economic development, and as a graduate research fellow for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

Dr. Keegan McBride is an assistant professor at Oxford University, where he studies topics such as digital government, digital innovation, the use of AI in the public sector, digital well-being and happiness, and government interoperability and data exchange. Outside of these academic interests, Keegan is actively working with NGOs, particularly those that focus on reimagining a better, open, human-centric, and equitable digital future. He can also be found consulting and working with governments and private sector organizations on the topic of governmental digitalization.

Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest, moderated the discussion.