Members of the National AI Advisory Committee are tasked with advising the president of the United States on competitiveness, the state of science and workforce issues surrounding artificial intelligence. When 27 members were appointed to the committee in 2022, artificial intelligence had not yet become the economic and cultural juggernaut that it is today.

The attention of the world is now focused on AI and its potential to reshape everyday life, and Committee members understand the broader mission of the group in providing guidance for what has become a topic of great interest and influence.

“We recognize that any technology is accompanied generally with some level of disruption, and we want to make sure that disruption does not occur at a rate that the country can’t sustain,” said Reggie Townsend (pictured, left), vice president of data ethics at SAS Institute Inc. and NAIAC committee member. “We’re very interested in things like AI literacy and making sure that the country, everybody in it, has an opportunity to not only understand AI, but has an opportunity really to enjoy the fruits of AI.”

Townsend spoke with theCUBE Research analysts John Furrier and Dave Vellante at SAS Innovate, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. He was joined by Miriam Vogel (right), president and chief executive officer of EqualAI, and they discussed the work of the committee and the importance of citizen participation. (* Disclosure below.)

SAS’ Reggie Townsend and Miriam Vogel of EqualAI talk with theCUBE about generative AI.

National AI Advisory Committee encourages citizen participation

As the chair of the NAIAC, Vogel appreciates the opportunity to craft AI guidance for the president while leading an open and transparent process. She welcomes citizen input and people can follow the committee’s work through livestreamed meetings and an active website.

“It needs to be all-hands-on-deck,” Vogel said. “The stakes are high enough that I feel comfortable that people are going to rise to the challenge. We will not have a sufficient workforce; we will not have a strong enough economy if we do not have more people ready to participate in our AI economy.”

The NAIAC chair recognizes the advantages that can be gained when technology is properly regulated in areas such as healthcare.

“If done right, regulation helps build trust. It helps support innovation,” Vogel said. “We’ve learned that dermatological screening can be 93% effective when used with AI. We’ve learned from recent studies that costs can go down 50% and upgrades in healthcare offerings can go up 40% if we’re using it right. We need to make sure that these are systems that people want to use so that it can be the democratizing force that we want it to be.”

For those who might take issue with government initiatives to regulate technology, SAS’ Townsend has a clear response.

“It’s not like with AI we’re lawless here,” Townsend said. “There’s a lot of laws that exist today that are already regulating AI. I think what people are really afraid of is whether or not they will have permission to just run roughshod and do whatever the heck they want to do. ‘No’ is the answer to that.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of SAS Innovate:

(* Disclosure: SAS Institute Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither SAS nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE