Be Prepared and Use Artificial Intelligence Well
Anything that sinful humans create will be flawed and have blind spots, acknowledged Dr. Richard Land, executive editor of the Christian Post. But he said we can wisely steward AI to bring society under the sway of Christianity. In the process, Land added, believers must hold accountable tech companies, the media, and the government.
Annie Chestnut Tutor, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Technology and the Human Person, described efforts in Washington, D.C., to regulate AI and protect people from harm. She works to limit dangers to children, such as from using AI chatbots and companions.
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Tutor’s greatest concern about AI, she said, is “the stuff we don’t yet know.” Another obstacle is the “huge liability shield” that protects mainstream platforms from damages they cause. “We don’t need to embrace all of AI, just out of fear of getting left behind,” Tutor advised about technology.
AI expert and futurist James Poulter advised people to prepare for AI and not underestimate how quickly it will effect change. “We don’t want to make the same mistakes we did with social media,” he said, “where we all signed up for accounts and clicked agreements without reading them.”
Emphasizing human welfare, not the AI model’s welfare, will be key, Poulter said. He characterized AI as a tool that also can become a weapon. “It reflects the best and worst of humanity back at us,” said Poulter. “So treat AI responsibly, and don’t let it become a king or an idol.”
