Recently, I attended the AI (Artificial Intelligence) and National Competitiveness Innovation Summit at the University at Albany. Having finished my physics doctorate there in 2020, I looked forward to sizing up my alma mater’s efforts in a field that could bring radical change to all our lives very soon. The gathering’s top-heavy name felt like awkward marketing, but the day was filled with substantial discussion.
UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez spoke at the opening about hiring 27 AI-expert faculty and founding the AI Plus Institute to facilitate interdisciplinary research, declaring, “When I say UAlbany is all-in on AI, I mean all-in.”
Dr. David Bray, Distinguished Fellow with the Stimson Center, which “promotes international security and shared prosperity,” gave an informative and occasionally moving keynote address on the problem of helping society catch up with rapid technological development. He pointed out unintended consequences of decisions about technology throughout history and that it took 15-30 years to discern the ethics of new technology. He said that submarines struck many as unethical in World War I and that Q-ships, U-boat hunters disguised as commercial ships, seemed acceptable. By World War II, opinions on these warships had reversed.
A panel discussion on law enforcement left me sad to think of the mental toll taken on the people who protect us by the things they have to see in their work. I heard that criminals have money to develop technology and that cheap technology can be very effective, as demonstrated by the drones Ukraine uses to fight Russia.
Lunch brought interesting small-group conversation. I heard no objection to my hypothesis that people who use AI at work are providing data, through the edits they make, to train machines to replace them. I made the mistake of taking an item from the dessert table. The slice of lemon bar was enormous and made me feel ill later. I was reminded of our economy, in which luxuries are abundant, crowding out necessities.
Early in the afternoon session, I was very happy to hear a middle-aged white man in an expensive suit say that too many of the people around the table in important meetings looked like him. Later, I was creeped out by two people talking enthusiastically about financial applications of quantum computing. So much research is driven, directly or indirectly, by money to be made in finance or the military-industrial complex.
The session about interdisciplinary work held much I’d hoped to hear. For example, an IBM researcher talked about working with a UAlbany philosopher. If we’re going to figure out the ethics of AI, we need to fund quite a bit of philosophical work. Ethics helps to keep us safe.
The day ended with attendees giving suggestions for UAlbany’s response to the White House’s Request for Information on “an AI Action Plan to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.” I was reminded of Gov. Hochul saying at UAlbany last October, “… whoever dominates the AI industry will dominate the next chapter of human history.” One of the five suggestions I made was to fund research on how to explain to decision makers that domination is undesirable, cutting leaders off from information they need in order to decide the best course of action and how to pursue it. Dominated people don’t speak up. Teaching ourselves the futility of domination might enlighten AI, too, promoting our safety should superintelligent AI emerge.
I left encouraged by the good-heartedness and dedication I’d witnessed but only slightly less scared. I’d have felt a little better if the room hadn’t been half empty all day. The society AI is transforming felt underrepresented.
completed March 3, 2025
posted March 18, 2025
UAlbany AI and National Competitiveness Innovation Summit occurred February 28, 2025