TIME 100/AI: SHAPERS

THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Alondra Nelson

RESEARCHER AND POLICY ADVISER

WHEN THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE was tasked with responding to the rapid changes in generative AI last year, Alondra Nelson led the charge. As the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Nelson oversaw the release of the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights last October. The document is not binding by law or enforceable, but lays a framework that she hopes both AI builders and policymakers will abide by in order to ensure that AI is a force for public good. "Fueled by the power of American innovation," the document reads, "these tools hold the potential to redefine every part of our society and make life better for everyone."

Nelson also hopes the 73 pages will spur Congress to draft and pass AI legislation as soon as possible. "It's incredibly urgent," she says. "We have a cautionary tale of not long ago with social media regulation, where we did not move quickly enough."

Nelson came to the White House with a knockout résumé: professor at Columbia and Yale, president and CEO of the nonprofit Social Science Research Council, and author of several acclaimed books on genetics, race, and medical discrimination. She brought the same rigor and attention to detail to the AI blueprint, which she formulated over the course of a year, with she and her team talking extensively with industry players, academics, high school students, and teachers. From those conversations, Nelson identified a collection of best practices for industry players, including red teaming-stress-testing AI systems before they are publicly deployed-and continual audits.