After long-running theories about any role former President Barack Obama may play in the current administration, a new report reveals his involvement in an executive order issued this week.
NBC News reported that Obama “quietly advised the White House for the past five months on his strategy to address artificial intelligence, engaging behind the scenes with tech companies and holding Zoom meetings with top West Wing aides.”
The months-long effort built up to Monday, when President Joe Biden signed an executive order establishing broad new government oversight of artificial intelligence.
the exit cited “aides to both men” as sources of information and claimed it was the first time Biden “used his former boss to help shape a key policy initiative.”
“President Biden is implementing the strongest set of actions that any government in the world has ever taken on the safety, security and trust of AI,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed told reporters . “It’s the next step in an aggressive strategy to go all-in on all fronts to leverage the benefits of AI and mitigate the risks.”
Reed also indicated that the impetus for the move came from fears about an AI villain in a movie the president had seen, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”
Movie villain inspired Joe Biden’s latest executive order, says chief of staff https://t.co/cPkfcqndul road @BIZPACRevision
— Based on BPR (@DumpstrFireNews) November 2, 2023
The new order establishes “AI safety and security standards, protects Americans’ privacy, advances fairness and civil rights, defends consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership- American around the world and more,” according to White. Press release from the house.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients recalled Biden saying, “You have to move fast here, not at the normal pace of government or the normal pace of the private sector, because technology is moving so fast. fast.”
Aides told NBC News that Biden and Obama share similar views on AI and its potential use, both good and bad. The two men reportedly discussed the technology in a phone call in June and “agreed on the goal of maximizing technology while limiting risks,” according to aides.
Their “shared vision” included the view that the federal government should act quickly to control the rapidly developing technology.
Biden and Obama had lunch together at the White House to continue their discussion after a request for the 44th president to work with the administration team to develop new policy.
We were told that Kamala Harris was in charge of the White House’s artificial intelligence policy. Now we know it really is Obama. The real question is what is NOT Obama doing in the Biden administration. https://t.co/nJEiyd0FAF
— Rachel Campos-Duffy (@RCamposDuffy) November 3, 2023
“Throughout the rest of the summer and fall, Obama was in regular contact with Zients, Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to provide input on the executive order, aides said of Biden and Obama. They said their two teams were in contact a dozen times, including when the administration finalized the order before Monday’s announcement,” NBC News noted.
“Obama was particularly helpful in laying the groundwork for tech companies to voluntarily start pressure-testing their AI models before releasing them to the public, aides to Biden and Obama said,” according to the outlet. “Part of his approach was to urge industry leaders to consider risks beyond national security, including information integrity, bias and discrimination.”
The former president reached out to advocacy groups as well as academics and researchers with interests in AI and then used the information he gathered to help the White House build the framework for the new policy, aides said.
“It really helped establish the mindset that companies can innovate while being responsible, and that companies need to be responsible,” Zients said.
Obviously, Obama had been concerned about the issue since his second term. In fact, before leaving office, his administration released a report on “Future Directions and Considerations for AI.”
obama he wrote about this week’s executive order in an article published on Medium.
“When social media took off, most decisions were made by a small group of people with almost no oversight. Those people created platforms that helped us connect in new and exciting ways, but they also failed to anticipate the harm their tools could do. By the time it became apparent, much of the damage had already been done. We can’t make the same mistake again, and the industry leaders I speak with agree. The bet is too high,” he wrote.
“If we want AI to be a force for good, we need to be able to stand up for something bigger, not just because it’s the right thing, but because it’s the smartest thing,” he concluded. “I applaud the Biden administration for taking this important step and hope it’s just the beginning.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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