Former President Donald Trump vowed to reverse President Biden's recent executive order which regulates Artificial Intelligence.
While the order contains provisions to protect Americans' privacy and civil rights, many have criticized it as yet another example of government overreach, which will stifle innovation and control the free flow of information.
"Just this week, Biden's homeland security secretary even admitted that they are weaponizing artificial intelligence to target American citizens for political speech. Did you hear that? He admitted it!," Trump said, speaking at a Saturday political rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
"Well, at lease he was honest," Trump continued.
"When I'm re-elected I will cancel Biden's artificial intelligence executive order and ban the use of AI to censor the speech of American citizens, on day one," he then proclaimed.
Watch:
We assume Trump was talking about recent comments by DHS Secretary Mayorkas that the government was going to 'defend against the adverse use of AI,' which includes 'disinformation.'
As Fedscoop.com notes, Biden's EO has been largely well received by AI experts and government leaders, however several tech industry associations have pushed back, arguing that it could stifle innovation and is too confusing.
"Broad regulatory measures in Biden’s AI red tape wishlist will result in stifling new companies and competitors from entering the marketplace and significantly expanding the power of the federal government over American innovation," said Carl Szabo, VP and general counsel at NetChoice. "This order puts any investment in AI at risk of being shut down at the whims of government bureaucrats."
"That is dangerous for our global standing as the leading technological innovators, and this is the wrong approach to govern AI."
Tom Quaadman, executive vice president of the Chamber’s Technology Engagement Center, said that the EO shows promise, but also raises concerns.
"Substantive and process problems still exist," he said, adding "Short, overlapping timelines for agency-required action endangers necessary stakeholder input, thereby creating conditions for ill-informed rulemaking and degrading intra-government cooperation."
Advancing Equity and Civil Rights?
As Jon Schweppe, Policy Director of American Principles Project told The Federalist in early November, "Stifling ‘innovation’ shouldn’t be the main concern," adding "We should want tech companies to be very cautious in how they approach AI development. But is empowering government bureaucrats — who have their own political agenda — really the best approach? Especially when censorship of ‘bad ideas’ is viewed by so many progressives as the highest good?"
And so of course…
Read more about the EO here…