White House: U.S. wants to be at the forefront of automation policy

The Obama administration wants the U.S. to be a world leader in economic and defense policy related to a new wave of automation powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Tuesday. "We can return to these questions in a way that America can kind of set the space and then set the parameters for how we go about it," McDonough said during a White House conversation on the topic that he moderated. The conversation comes as the White House looks to wrap up its string of workshops on artificial intelligence Thursday. In May, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced plans to explore the uses and risks of AI. Since then the office has hosted three workshops and another event on the matter.