THE FIRST MENTION of artificial intelligence in the Congressional Record dates back to 1964, when Senator Hubert Humphrey marveled at machines “that read, that remember, that improve their performance.” Even in that innocent time, politicians had canned takes about such technology. “The computer age is young; but already, let us admit, some laymen in policymaking positions have tended to make three types of speeches on the computer,” Humphrey said. There are speeches of “sheer awe.” Then there are those touting the hours of leisure and convenience computers would provide their human masters. And then the doomsayers: “Good-bye jobs; hello breadlines.”
It turns out that the doomsayers may have had a point. The political understanding of technology, however, has hardly gotten any more sophisticated. At a May 16 hearing on what the federal government should do about the widespread adoption of AI, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut played a recording of a computer-generated voice that sounded uncannily like him reciting a speech that an AI program had written in his style. This was no neat trick, according to Blumenthal. It was an ominous harbinger: “What if I had asked it, and what if it had provided, an endorsement of Ukraine surrendering or Vladimir Putin’s leadership?”
Denne historien er fra May 22 - June 04, 2023-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra May 22 - June 04, 2023-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Early and Often: David Freedlander - Momentum vs. Machine The Trump and Harris campaigns battle it out for every last vote.
WIth two weeks left to go, the contours of the 2024 presidential election are clear: Both campaigns need voters who usually don’t vote, and Kamala Harris needs to bring the Democratic coalition, including its Trump-curious members, back home.While the Republican side plans to spend the remaining days of the contest trying to lure low-propensity voters to the polls, the Harris team will attempt to persuade voters of color to return to its side and will try to increase numbers among white voters in previously red suburbs.
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