Do we have any idea how Republican elites feel about AI regulation?
This seems like the biggest remaining question mark which will determine how much AI regulation we get. It’s basically guaranteed that Republicans will have to agree to AI regulation legislation, and Biden can’t do too much without funding in legislation. Also there’s a very good chance Trump wins next year and will control executive AI Safety regulation.
The issue is not yet clearly polarized, but when/if it does, it’s likely that the right will be the more pro-safety side, unless something changes a lot. (Polls: “The uncontrollable effects of artificial intelligence (AI) could be so harmful that it may risk the future of humankind”, Trump voters − 70% agree, Biden voters − 60%, Ipsos poll; “How worried are you that machines with artificial intelligence could eventually pose a threat to the existence of the human race – very, somewhat, not too, or not at all worried?”, Republicans − 31% “very worried”, Democrats − 21%, 31% each for “somewhat worried”, Monmouth. Among politicians, it’s less obvious a skew, but Sunak, von der Leyen, and Netanyahu are all right-wing within their systems.) This will likely end up being a problem, because academia, big tech, and the media are all held by the left.
Also, Mitt Romney seemed to be very concerned about AI risk during the hearings, and I don’t think he was at all alone among the Republicans present.
There are many examples of electorates changing their opinions and pretty quickly, so I don’t think polling today is really a very reliable indicator. For example, Republicans and Democrats basically traded places regarding the belief that leaders’ morality is important.
Yeah, I think there’s a big difference between how Republican voters feel about it and how their elites do. Romney is, uhh, not representative of most elite Republicans, so I’d be cautious there
Do we have any idea how Republican elites feel about AI regulation?
This seems like the biggest remaining question mark which will determine how much AI regulation we get. It’s basically guaranteed that Republicans will have to agree to AI regulation legislation, and Biden can’t do too much without funding in legislation. Also there’s a very good chance Trump wins next year and will control executive AI Safety regulation.
Copy-pasting something I wrote elsewhere:
Also, Mitt Romney seemed to be very concerned about AI risk during the hearings, and I don’t think he was at all alone among the Republicans present.
There are many examples of electorates changing their opinions and pretty quickly, so I don’t think polling today is really a very reliable indicator. For example, Republicans and Democrats basically traded places regarding the belief that leaders’ morality is important.
Yeah, I think there’s a big difference between how Republican voters feel about it and how their elites do. Romney is, uhh, not representative of most elite Republicans, so I’d be cautious there