The government isn't doing enough to solve big problems with AI

The government should play a bigger role in developing new tools based on artificial intelligence, or we could miss out on revolutionary applications because they don't have obvious commercial upside. That was the message from prominent AI technologists and researchers at a Senate committee hearing last week. They agreed that AI is in a crucial developmental moment, and that government has a unique opportunity to shape its future. They also said that the government is in a better position than technology companies to invest in AI applications aimed at broad societal problems. Today just a few companies, led by Google and Facebook, account for the lion's share of AI R&D in the U.S.