What insights do policymakers need to make decisions that minimize the risks of AI while maximizing the benefits? As AI is implemented across different sectors, how might it increase inequities or transform the workforce? Will generative AI revolutionize U.S. adversaries’ ability to manipulate content on social media?
RAND experts will tackle these questions and more in a one-day masterclass designed for journalists. Attendees will deepen their knowledge of AI technologies and applications; learn more about some of the top policy considerations related to AI; and get expert insights into the ways this fast-evolving technology could transform the way we work, live, and interact.
The following schedule is tentative and subject to change.
9-9:15 a.m. — Welcome and Introductions
9:15-10:30 a.m. — AI and Inequity | Benjamin Boudreaux, Jessica Paige
From criminal justice to schools to health care, AI has already shown that it can exacerbate social bias and inequality. Boudreaux and Paige will go through several case studies and offer a framework that focuses on the way the data used to train AI interacts with the algorithm to produce unfair outcomes for vulnerable communities. They will discuss how AI is being used in a wider circle of social contexts and what can be done to minimize its negative impacts.
10:30-10:45 a.m.: Break
10:45-11:30 a.m. — The AI Governance Ecosystem | Benjamin Boudreaux, Casey Mahoney, Carter Price
The AI ecosystem includes many stakeholders with interests that don’t always align with each other, including chipmakers, cloud computing providers, software companies, AI/ML researchers, regulators, end-users and others. AI will have significant impacts on geopolitics and virtually every industry, including health care, manufacturing, energy, finance and services. RAND analysts will discuss the risks associated with existing and prospective AI models, as well as options to mitigate these risks, including government regulation, the role of multilateral governance and how certain choices could impact the public interest.
11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. — Crafting an AI policy for your newsroom | Fernanda Camarena
Every newsroom needs to adopt an ethics policy to guide the use of generative artificial intelligence. Why? Because the only way to create ethical standards in an unlicensed profession is to do it shop by shop. Poynter’s AI Policy Starter Kit, created by Kelly McBride, Alex Mahadevan and Tony Elkins, roots AI experimentation in the principles of accuracy, transparency and audience trust, followed by a set of specific guidelines.
12:15-1:15 p.m. — Lunch (provided)
1:15-2:15 p.m. — AI and the Future of Work | Tobias Sytsma, Melanie Zaber
Will AI be the fifth industrial revolution in the world of work? This talk will highlight RAND research on which jobs are most exposed to technological change, with a special focus on AI. The presenters will discuss how exposure to AI is measured; whether and which jobs are likely to be replaced, reshaped or expanded by technology; and the types of workers who will be most exposed. They will also highlight promising practices to help smooth the “AI revolution” for workers and employers alike.
2:15-3:15 p.m.: Generative AI’s Potential Role in Information Warfare | Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga, William Marcellino
The rise of generative AI could revolutionize bad actors’ ability to conduct social media manipulation. This talk will review the technical foundations of generative AI, highlight applications for social media manipulation, and examine the threat to the democratic process via astroturfing. Presenters will explore these issues through a case study — how the Chinese military may adopt generative AI to interfere in Taiwan’s democracy — and apply that to domestic actors’ potential misuse of this emerging technology.
3:15-3:30 p.m. — Closing
3:30-4:30 p.m. — Happy hour nearby (location TBD)
