Obama wants AI at the centre of the Democrats' agenda, with a 'very clear plan' for safety and jobs
Former US president Barack Obama told a fundraiser at which House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries interviewed him that Democrats need a 'very clear plan' for AI safety, its effect on children and job displacement, adding that the technology is moving fast in private hands and could be dangerous if left unattended. His office released a partial transcript of the 10 September remarks to the press on 13 September. Jeffries responded that the former president is right and that decisive action is needed.
Artificial Intelligence··Morning
Jeffries's question at the fundraiser
Barack Obama spoke on Thursday 10 September at a fundraiser of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats' election arm; his office gave a partial transcript of the remarks to The New York Times and NBC News on 13 September. Asked by Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, how congressional Democrats should approach AI, Obama said that if he were running for president in 2028 the issue would be one of his central agendas and he would have 'a very clear plan': a plan for safety, a plan for making sure children are not corrupted by the technology, and concrete thinking about the economic impacts, job displacement included. He added that he is neither an 'accelerationist' nor a 'doomer', but that the AI bell cannot be unrung.[1], [2]
A framework for 'a very public conversation' once the House is retaken
Obama urged that once the Democrats regain the House majority and Jeffries is speaker, the party put together 'a framework for a very public conversation', break it into three or four or five issues and lay the foundation for a broad public debate. The technology is moving very fast in private hands, he said, and could be dangerous if nobody gets on top of it, while he believes it is beneficial if handled well; AI could accelerate drug development, the curing of diseases and clean energy, he added, so those opportunities should not be shut off, but people have to understand that it is a tool.[1], [2]
Jeffries's response and the timing against Amodei's plan
Jeffries said in a statement that the former president is correct that decisive action must be taken on artificial intelligence, and that Republicans have abdicated their responsibility to govern. According to The New York Times, Obama has offered himself as a sounding board to AI executives and has spoken with both Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Sam Altman of OpenAI. The remarks came before Amodei published his 12 September plan proposing access for independent safety evaluators and common safety standards across companies; a source familiar with Obama's thinking told NBC News that the former president saw that essay, and the industry leaders' agreement with it, as an 'encouraging development'.[1], [2]
