Every morning brings a new warning about "artificial intelligence" (AI) along the lines of, "We are all going to die."
asserted
We → bring → lines
By afternoon, or by the next day at the latest, comes the counter-warning: "Stand down.
asserted
counter → come → latest
For those of us who need a YouTube video to start the dishwasher or to find the emergency lights on a rental car, the correct posture is difficult to guess.
asserted
posture → need → car
"Guess" is the operative word here, because if 0.01% of America understands the debate, I would be surprised.
asserted
I → understand → debate
Almost everyone who cared to read or watch the Cold War unfold knew the score of that arms race when it came to nuclear weapons.
asserted
it → care → weapons
Similarly, most conventional conflicts—whether Ukraine’s extraordinary defense against the Russian invasion, Israel’s multi-front war following Hamas’ 10/7 attack in 2023, or America’s ongoing battle with Iran to deny it both nuclear weapons and control over the Strait of Hormuz—are of the sort that most free people who want to understand those conflicts can understand (with a little time and care in choosing their sources).
asserted
who → follow → sources
On Saturday, Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s chief executive, said in an essay that AI was advancing too quickly for researchers to continue building it safely.
asserted
researchers → say → it
Within a day, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive; Elon Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive; and Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind’s CEO, all said they agreed on the need for a slower pace.
asserted
they → say → pace
By Monday morning, billionaire tech investor David Sacks’ response to Amodei was everywhere on X, formerly known as Twitter, and the post had some bite.
asserted
post → know → bite
In addition to rejecting "AI doomerism," Sacks unsubtly proposed that Amodei could be motivated by self-interest (which is pretty much Adam Smith 101): "I don’t see what you see in the lab.
uncertain
you → reject → lab
If the unreleased models are scary enough that you think you should slow down, I support your decision to be responsible."
asserted
I → think → decision
Then Sacks landed the roundhouse punch:
"But stop pretending you need anyone else’s permission.
asserted
you → land → permission
Stop pretending antitrust law has to be suspended so you can form a cartel.
asserted
you → pretend → cartel
Stop pretending you need a regulatory approval process that supersedes product liability.
asserted
that → pretend → liability
Sacks may or may not have President Donald Trump’s ear on this topic, but Sacks is the co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, so there is a good chance he does.
So what should President Trump do?
uncertain
Trump → have → what
If ever a possible problem had "Congress" as its final address, it is this one.
asserted
it → have → address
There is a Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, that has 21 members.
asserted
that → be → members
There is a House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Arkansas Republican Rep. Rick Crawford, that has 27 members.
asserted
that → be → members
These are the two committees whose membership belongs solely to the party leaders in each chamber.
asserted
membership → belong → chamber
Those leaders tend to pick the smart folks in Congress to serve on these committees, legislators who enjoy a measure of respect on both sides of the aisle.
asserted
who → tend → aisle
These 48 elected members of Congress should have the lead on this debate.
asserted
members → elect → debate
It is unlikely they will have an opportunity before the midterms to gather and hear from even a half-dozen combatants in the AI wars, but the committees’ staffs can certainly be about the work of making sure the controversy is well briefed and counter-briefed.
asserted
briefed → have → work
When these 48 get to hearing the arguments and debating among themselves about the best way forward—and whether that would include new statutes or a new agency with new regulatory authority over AI—they can then communicate what is advisable to communicate to the public, aware as they are, that Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping is watching everything we do as a country.
asserted
we → get → country
As President Trump correctly observed about the debate over AI guardrails when it comes to China: President Xi is the guardrail.
asserted
Xi → observe → China
It is foolish to think Xi will be satisfied with a silver medal in the AI Olympics.
asserted
Xi → think → Olympics
We are, however, a free people, and there is no counterpart to Xi here, and we are also marked by a reluctance to trust corporate America, especially its most powerful titans, with the authority to chart our laws.
asserted
we → be → laws
As a republic of laws, it is assumed that actions by private-sector actors are legal until they can be conclusively proven not to be legal.
asserted
they → assume → actors
That’s the free market.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
All around America is the abundance that free markets produce.
asserted
markets → produce → that
When World Cup crowds dipped their collective toes in the currents of America’s vast wealth this past summer—best represented, it seemed, by Buc-ee’s—most were amazed.
asserted
most → dip → Buc
But it’s everywhere, available for everyone to see.
asserted
everyone → ’ → ?
Which means to me that Congress needs to deliberate carefully about intervening in the free market without a lot of study beforehand.
asserted
Congress → mean → study
The legislators can move quickly if indeed they judge the moment to be urgent.
asserted
moment → move → ?
If it is urgent, I hope they do.
asserted
they → hope → ?
But "open letters" from concerned citizens, much less self-interested CEOs, have never been the end of the discussion, and sometimes they don’t rate as beginnings or even contributions to the conversation.
asserted
they → rate → conversation
Exactly zero agencies have been established with the purpose of overseeing this technology.
asserted
agencies → establish → technology
The Federal Trade Commission was established in 1914, so it certainly wasn’t dispatched to rule Silicon Valley and its like-minded locales.
asserted
it → establish → Valley
We are not organized as the European Commission is—thank goodness.
asserted
Commission → organize → goodness
No, the private sector gets to run with the AI ball as far and as fast as it wants until and unless Congress says stop via a proposed statute and the president agrees with a signature.
asserted
president → get → signature
That’s the final word on the debate unless and until somebody steps up with an argument based on law and not fear.
asserted
somebody → ’ → law
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
