Dear listeners,
This week’s show is about AI and we’re joined by Dean Ball, who helped to shape AI policy in the Trump White House and is soon to join OpenAI. (See his latest newsletter on the new role he’ll be taking that focuses on AI policy, both external and internal.) Dean makes a case for an AI regulation model that looks like bank regulation: making rules about how companies should make their own rules, much like banks make their own credit policies in accordance with government rules about credit risk.
There’s a plausible theory here about complex systems, but also some worrisome implications. Banks, after all, fail from time to time. It’s taken us hundreds of years of trial and error to get to the still-imperfect regulatory system we have today. And banks are full of experts who want to get repaid on loans and avoid insolvency, but who also have incentives to take risks that can be socialized to taxpayers. Applying that model to an industry whose visionaries talk openly about how their products might kill everyone feels more than a little unsettling.
But then, do we have other choices? Dean suggests we don’t, really.
For paying subscribers, this week’s episode ends with the very first (but not the last) Central Air cocktail hour, where Ben, Megan and I pour ourselves some drinks, unpack what we’ve heard from our guest, and try to get comfortable with what the future holds for us. I even feel a little bit driven toward the church by the end. Maybe you will too? To hear the whole episode:
We hope you enjoy the episode,
Josh
