Commentary: Washington Needs to Adopt AI Soon or We'll Lose Millions

Since I recently held a series of congressional hearings on artificial intelligence (AI), I've been asking constituents, friends, and strangers what's the first thing that comes to mind when I say the phrase "artificial intelligence." If my interlocutor is older than me, he or she describes something close to HAL 9000, the scary computer from Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. If the person is younger than me, he or she describes something like Ava, the manipulative and willing-to-kill humanoid robot played by Alicia Vikander in Alex Garland's thriller Ex Machina. Having talked to government agencies about their engagement with AI and spoken with folks in the private sector about the challenges and opportunities AI brings, I've learned we are far from a HAL or Ava scenario becoming reality. The government adoption of AI will not bring about a government being run by robots.