Editorial | Trump’s go-it-alone approach to AI will leave everyone a loser
Artificial intelligence and related technologies will be a game-changer that requires global cooperation to ensure effective governance
An international approach best meets challenges to global security. Examples include the World Health Organization’s response to Covid-19 and the Paris Agreement on climate change, though neither is perfect.
United States President Donald Trump has, for the second time, pulled the most powerful country out of both, in line with his campaign promise to reject global institutions, instead of working to make them more effective.
It is therefore predictable that from day one of his new term he has shunned a cooperative approach to the risks posed by the revolutionary development of artificial intelligence (AI). This is deeply regrettable, given the power of AI to change everything from economics and health to national security, and that it is the focus of intense competition between the US and China.
Little more than a year ago, Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, and President Xi Jinping agreed to try to put guardrails on the powerful new technology. But Trump has rolled back Biden’s orders ensuring safety standards in government use of AI and criticised Biden’s efforts to share test results, saying they were “hindering innovation”.
A day after his election, flanked by tech titans, the Trump administration unveiled the US$500 billion Stargate Project to further advance the United States’ lead in the vital technology, including the creation of massive data centres.
At the same time, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexing used an address to the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, to sound a timely reminder that AI governance had to be added to pressing global challenges such as climate change, food security and energy stability. Ding said China was willing to work with others to meet them.
