WASHINGTON (BP) – The White House hosted its first-ever intelligence briefing for senators related to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The information shared in the July 11 meeting was classified.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) sent a letter to his colleagues to invite them. Schumer said the meeting would address, “how we’re using and investing in AI to protect our national security and learn what our adversaries are doing in AI,” according to The Hill.
The meeting was led by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and other defense and technology leaders in the Biden administration.
“These briefings are a helpful and encouraging first step. They will hopefully begin to inform and equip our lawmakers on the nature of these tools, the ways they are already shaping our society, and how we might wisely respond as a nation,” said Jason Thacker, assistant professor of philosophy and ethics at Boyce College and research fellow for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
We are at a critical moment in this age of AI. How we respond will affect not only those in our communities today but also those to come.
Thacker says it is a critical moment in the age of AI.
“We need voices from across disciplines and perspectives, including people of faith, who have valuable insight into the pressing questions we all are asking about these technologies,” Thacker said.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Following the briefing, he told a reporter, “The one thing I’m certain of is: I know of no technological advance in human history you’ve been able to roll back. It’s going to happen. The question is how do we build guardrails and practices around it so that we can maximize its benefits and diminish its harm,” Rubio told reporters, according to The Hill.
Messengers to the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in June passed a resolution on AI. It is believed to be the first statement of its kind by a denomination or major religious organization.
“Nothing short of human dignity is at stake and we must respond in ways as a society that honor the value of every person,” Thacker said.
