An artificial intelligence expo in D.C. is hosting leaders of the industry who are discussing many of the same fears about the technology held by people outside tech circles.
The AI+ Expo is free for anyone to attend and hosted by a think tank called the Special Competitive Studies Project. It’s filled with tech startups, defense contractors and a wider range of companies using AI in all sorts of ways.
And one topic of frequent discussion on the many stages and in conference rooms is the impact the technology is having on jobs.
“This is a problem that we need to be taking seriously as a leadership issue,” said Miriam Vogel, president and CEO of Bethesda, Maryland-based EqualAI, which focuses on policy and governance of the technology.
“It’s something I feel very strongly and something we talk about a lot.”
Vogel referred to AI as a general purpose tool and said it’s “not something happening to” people, but something people can engage with in their families and workplaces.
Arun Gupta, CEO of the NobleReach Foundation, a Tysons, Virginia-based nonprofit promoting public service to tech workers, spoke not just about jobs, but about how AI will influence careers.
He said he believes young people are likely to have four to six careers over their lifetime.
“That could be startling for some, but I think ultimately, once you get on the other side of it, I think it’s empowering for most,” he said. “Because they’re the ones that are able to design the career that fits the purpose that they have.”
Brendan Schulman, vice president of policy and government relations at the robotics company Boston Dynamics, hopes the expo helps demystify the fanatical perceptions some people have about this technology.
“They imagine that the robot is designed to come in and take their jobs. And that’s a concern that people have had about technology for decades, and not just robots,” Schulman said. “I think it’s particularly felt when it’s a machine that looks like a human.”
Across the ballroom, Atlanta-based company Turnabot, talked about the potential far-reaching benefits of its combat robots.
“The space industry is actually really focused on combat robotics, because with combat robotics, you can design for as long as you want, you can build it as well as you can, but when it goes in the arena, you can’t touch it again,” Turnabot founder and CPO Scott Siegel said. “So similarly, if you send something to Mars, you can’t touch it once it gets there. It’s got to be able to crash land on its own. It’s got to be able to do whatever its function is. It’s going to encounter things that you probably didn’t plan for.”
Siegel also tried to calm fears of a robot revolution in which AI takes over.
“You can get them to do an enormous amount of work very efficiently, but they’re always going to have to have supervision,” Siegel said. “They’re always going to have to have a person at the helm.”
He said he thinks those who are skeptical should grow more familiar with the technology: “You should learn how to use (AI), because if you don’t learn how to use it, you’re going to get left behind.”
The free expo runs through Saturday and features family-friendly programming.
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