Trump and Vance get it. US can use AI to help Americans and the world flourish.
John Tillman
Opinion contributor
Is artificial intelligence good or evil?
That is the question I had to answer a few years ago. I was speaking on a panel, and AI had just burst onto the scene so interest was high. Surely, I thought, won't everyone agree that AI is good?
I couldn't have been more wrong. I was the only one who made a forceful defense of this technology, arguing that it could ensure American economic dominance and uplift the less fortunate by disrupting elite institutions and industries.
Everyone else said the opposite − that AI threatened the vulnerable and could upend America as we know it. Even more shocking: The audience largely sided with the naysayers.
I walked away from that panel worried that America would squander its chance to unleash AI-driven opportunity. My fears were confirmed as the Biden-Harris administration sought to control AI, laying the legal groundwork to strangle it with regulation.
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While I shared widespread concerns about AI's potential for abuse, I had far more belief in the American people's ability to refine that technology and direct it toward its highest and most humane use. But that can't happen so long as government stokes panic about AI and prevents it from developing in a free and fair market.
Finally, we have a president and vice president who agree that AI is good − who recognize that America needs AI and needs to lead the world in development of the technology.
Vance speech addresses US approach to AI
The clearest proof is Vice President JD Vance's speech on artificial intelligence last week in Europe, which instantly became the AI policy shot heard 'round the world. The vice president declared that, unlike the last presidential administration, America now rejects the idea that government should direct AI's development.
He said that 'excessive regulation' of AI would 'kill a transformative industry just as it's taking off.' Instead, Vance said, we need 'pro-growth AI policies' that enable this technology to become 'a potent tool for job creation' and human flourishing in the United States.
In short, Vance said, American AI will be 'the gold standard worldwide,' proving what this technology is truly capable of while uplifting our people in extraordinary, even unimaginable ways.
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Thankfully, President Donald Trump has already proved that this isn't just rhetoric. He repealed Joe Biden's anti-AI policies on the first day of his administration, and in his first month, he has been a loud and proud cheerleader of American AI.
But Vance didn't just say that America needs AI and needs to lead in AI. He also said that AI needs America − that our philosophy of freedom must guide the global development of this cutting-edge tool.
This is the meaning of the vice president's declaration that 'AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.'
He's right: AI must be grounded in the right ideals, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom to pursue happiness in a system of equal opportunity.
China uses AI for control and oppression
That's a stark contrast with Chinese AI, which might be technologically advanced but is morally stunted, as it's already used to censor topics the Chinese Communist Party finds objectionable while enabling that regime's social and economic oppression.
China is proving that AI can be evil. But it doesn't mean AI is inherently evil, and America can prove that this technology's capacity for good is far greater. By taking the political and legal shackles off AI, Trump and Vance are empowering the American people to move AI in the best possible direction.
Our companies will innovate even faster because they no longer fear being dominated by government. Our citizens will guide that innovation, demanding that AI developers not only create incredible products, but also do so on a principled basis. And other countries will follow our lead, seeing that America's market-driven approach to AI is superior in every way.
Donald Trump and JD Vance deserve praise for seeing this promise and empowering America to seize the opportunity. If only we'd had leaders who recognized the truth several years ago, when I was asked if this technology is good or evil. American AI would be even more advanced, uplifting more people from all walks of life.
Now, at last, we'll start to unleash the incredible potential of artificial intelligence, and for the benefit of all.
John Tillman is CEO of the American Culture Project.
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