Biden asks APEC members to ensure AI brings change for the better

SAN FRANCISCO – US President Joe Biden on Friday urged Asia-Pacific economies to work together to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) brings change for the better, not to abuse workers or limit potential.

Speaking at the final session of a two-day summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco, Biden said he briefly discussed AI with Chinese President Xi Jinping in talks on the sidelines of APEC on Wednesday.

Biden used the two-day APEC summit to highlight the strong US economy and its ties with other Pacific nations, even as his vision for greater regional cooperation to counter China’s influence stumbled on the trade front due to his attempt to strengthen workers’ rights.

“We will see more technological change in the next 10 years than we have seen in the last 50 years,” Biden said, as Xi looked a few seats to his left at a circular conference table. “Together, we have to make sure this changes for the better.”

Biden said digital technologies like AI should be used to “elevate, not limit, the potential of our people,” and noted that the United States brought together leading AI companies over the summer to agree on voluntary commitments “to maintain the safe and reliable AI systems.” .”

The steps, he said, included committing to ensuring the safety of AI systems before releasing them to the public, placing watermarks on AI-generated content to show that it was generated by artificial intelligence, and minimizing the risk that the systems of AI pose to society, such as by promoting prejudice or discrimination.

Biden also noted that he signed an executive order last month to establish new AI standards, such as requiring developers of the most powerful AI systems to share the results of their security tests with the government and strengthening technologies to protect privacy and prevent employers use AI to exploit workers.

Meanwhile, Washington was expanding grants for AI research in key areas such as health care and climate change, he said.