As we all now know, Donald Trump was re-elected for a second US presidential term this week. A second Trump term will have significant and far-reaching consequences on everything from female reproductive rights to foreign policy; from immigration to inflation. Many of us are hurting, still reeling from the shock that more than half of this nation supports a twice-impeached convicted felon who incited a political riot at the end of his last term.
I read somewhere in this week’s flurry of social media content that we can only sit in shock for so long. That, after a few days, it becomes necessary to pick ourselves up off of the floor, roll up our shirt-sleeves and get to work. This is, after all, one of America’s core foundational values: that only through hard work and perseverance can we push forward and catalyze the progress necessary to create a better world.
“The fight for our freedom will take hard work. But, like I always say, we like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work can be joyful work. And the fight for our country is always worth it. It is always worth it.” —Kamala Harris, during her concession speech
As we take tentative steps forward into a future that feels both highly uncertain and highly familiar at the same time, it will be more important than ever to commit to the work that resonates with you — to understand where and how you feel personally driven to fight for a more unified, connected, respectful and equitable society.
For me, my work is in fighting to ensure vulnerable communities, future generations and the general public are protected from the overt and all-encompassing power of tech companies, particularly around the development and deployment of artificial intelligence.
And Trump’s emphasis on deregulation of the tech industry means my work just became more daunting. Over the past two days, I’ve tried to understand how the direction of AI safety and effective AI policies will likely shift under a new reign of power. And while so much is still unknown, what I do know is the necessity of situational awareness: of understanding where we are, how we got here, and where we could be heading.
In this podcast (my first-ever “solocast”!), I strive to make the above accessible — to provide an understanding of the current state of AI regulation in the US, the directions we can expect to see it shift, and how the relationship between tech and government has evolved in recent years to heavily contribute to create a dangerous concentration of power.
🎙️ This solocast breaks down:
👉 The current state of AI policy in the United States, including a breakdown of the Biden-Harris Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.
👉 The directional shift we can expect to see in AI US regulation during a Trump presidency, based on past remarks, campaign promises and growing close-knit affiliations with tech leaders.
👉 A discussion around the growing relationship between government and tech, including how that relationship has evolved over the past four years and why it’s essential that we, as civil society, are aware of the dangers and complications of Trump-tech alliances.
I hope, wherever you are, you’re taking the time you need to process, reflect and grieve. And, then, I hope we can all find that flicker within ourselves that begs us forward, urges us to roll up our sleeves, and get to work.
Until next time,
Cecilia
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RemAIning Human is written and edited by Cecilia Callas.
