MAGA and progressives unite to push back on big AI
NBC News
The organization Humans First, which hosts small group meetings, has gotten attention from Elon Musk and White House AI Czar David Sacks.
In a musty, multipurpose auditorium at the top of a winding staircase, close to 75 New Yorkers of many political stripes, from MAGA conservatives to progressive environmentalists, gathered Tuesday night to share their worries about the concentrated wealth and power steering today’s rapid AI development.
“Artificial intelligence is not a problem of the future. It’s a source of power right now, to do great good and to do great harm,” proclaimed Jeremy Ornstein, one of the organizers, at the start of the meeting. “Billionaires will lay their claim to AI and say it shouldn’t be in public control, and tyrants will lay their claim to AI and deny our fundamental freedoms.”
“But there’s another opportunity here. We the people, whoever we are, will lay our own claim to this technology,” Ornstein said, “and carve a path that protects people.”“That’s our movement,” he said.
The event, held at St. Michael’s Church in Manhattan and advertised online, was the latest in a series of nationwide events held by Humans First, a group that aims to become a grassroots movement giving voice to the growing number of Americans wary of the fast-moving AI industry. Its current flagship campaign focuses on getting politicians to reject financial contributions from major AI companies and their venture capital backers.
The group’s pitch — that AI should be subject to more democratic control and less “big money” influence — is already colliding with a broader, increasingly ideological fight over AI regulation. That clash surfaced online this week when White House AI czar and venture capitalist David Sacks shared a critical essay about Humans First and Elon Musk echoed it, revealing how even a nascent group hosting small gatherings can become a new front in the AI power struggle.
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