In the past few months, artificial intelligence has managed to pass the bar exam, create award-winning art, and diagnose sick patients better than most physicians. Soon it might eliminate millions of jobs. At least those are the arguments being made by its boosters and detractors in Silicon Valley. But Amba Kak, the executive director of the AI Now Institute, a New York–based group studying artificial intelligence's effects on society, says Americans should view the technology with neither a sense of mystery nor a feeling of awed resignation. The former Federal Trade Commission adviser thinks regulators need to analyze AI's consumer and business applications with a shrewd, empowered skepticism. Kak and I discussed how to understand AI, the risks it poses, whether the technology is overhyped, and how to regulate it. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.