Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson is threading the needle on the subject of synthetic intelligence.
Ferguson made a short look on the opening reception for Seattle AI Week on Monday night, talking at AI Home on Pier 70 about his strategy to governing the consequential expertise.
“I view my job as maximizing the advantages and minimizing harms,” stated Ferguson, who took workplace earlier this yr.
Ferguson referred to as AI one of many “prime 5 greatest challenges” he thinks about every day, each professionally and personally.
In a follow-up interview with GeekWire, the governor stated AI “might completely remodel our authorities, in addition to the personal sector, in some ways.”
His feedback got here simply as Amazon, the most important employer in Washington state, said it would eliminate about 14,000 corporate jobs, citing a necessity to cut back forms and grow to be extra environment friendly within the new period of synthetic intelligence.
Ferguson advised the group that the way forward for work and “lack of jobs that include the expertise” is on his thoughts.
The governor highlighted Washington’s AI Process Pressure, created throughout his tenure as legal professional common, which is finding out points from algorithmic bias to information safety. The group’s subsequent set of suggestions arrives later this yr and will form upcoming laws, he stated.
States are shifting forward with their very own AI guidelines within the absence of a complete federal framework. Washington seems to take a seat within the pragmatic center of this fast-moving regulatory panorama — utilizing executive action and an professional job drive to construct pointers, whereas watching experiments in states equivalent to California and Colorado.
Seattle metropolis leaders additionally getting concerned. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell final month announced a “accountable AI plan” that gives pointers for Seattle’s use of synthetic intelligence and its help of the AI tech sector as an financial driver.
Ferguson stated he’s conscious of how AI can “actually revolutionize our economic system and state in so some ways,” from healthcare to training to wildfire detection.
However he additionally flagged his considerations — each as a policymaker and father or mother. The governor, who has 17-year-old twins, stated he worries concerning the expertise’s impression on younger individuals, referencing reports of adlescent suicides linked to AI chatbots and on-line hurt.
Regardless of these considerations, Ferguson maintained an upbeat tone throughout his remarks at Seattle AI Week, citing the area’s technical expertise and financial alternative from the expertise.
He famous that the state, amid a $16 billion funds shortfall this yr, saved $300,000 in funding for the AI Home, the brand new waterfront startup hub that hosted Monday’s occasion.
“There is no such thing as a higher place, actually, anyplace in the US for this innovation than proper right here within the Northwest,” he stated.
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