Publications: Hodan Omaar

A landmark ruling in 2015 made it harder for artists and record labels to determine where permissible influence and interpolation become impermissible appropriation and plagiarism. Congress should make things more consistent, accurate, and fair by directing the Copyright Office to launch a competition for the private sector to come up with an AI-enabled tool to compare how similar a musical composition or recording is to existing copyright-protected works.

California's new AI bill stands to seriously hinder the development of state-of-the-art systems in the state, where much of the frontier AI development in the U.S. is taking place. And since California often sets the tone for action in other states, this bill risks setting a precedent for a fragmented regulatory landscape for AI safety across the country.

Cloaking narratives about existential risks of AI in apocalyptic religious language only serves to prevent good-faith efforts to address potential risk scenarios.

While the Artificial Intelligence Research, Innovation, and Accountability (AIRIA) Act strikes the balance between innovation and accountability better than other AI policy proposals, it puts the horse before the cart, requiring the Commerce Department to come up with technical solutions to complex, nontechnical problems that haven’t been fully defined yet.

The decision by so many governments, especially the United States, to legitimize the belief that AI presents an existential risk that governments must address will seriously undermine efforts to rapidly develop and adopt the technology for beneficial purposes.

In the nearly 25 years since NSF held the U.S. government’s first workshop on the topic, it has become increasingly apparent that quantum information science has the potential to drive major advances in computing power, secure communication, and scientific discovery. So, the government has rightly recognized it needs to play an active role in ensuring the nation remains competitive in this critical field.

The biggest risk to consumers is that the myriad opportunities AI offers will not be translated into all the areas where they can make a positive difference in people’s lives.

Oppenheimer, has many people drawing parallels between the control of nuclear weapons and the calls to curb AI. But developing and deploying powerful AI systems is not like developing and deploying the atomic bomb.

The White House is developing a national artificial intelligence strategy to “chart a path for the United States to harness the benefits and mitigate the risks of AI.” Previous administrations and Congress have taken some steps toward this in the past, but those efforts did not go far enough.

A national AI strategy is necessary to bolster U.S. competitiveness, strengthen national security, and maximize the societal benefits that the country could derive from AI.