Fall has brought cooler temperatures to Washington, but CSET continues to heat up. Since last month’s roundup, our experts have been everywhere: in print, newsletters, blogs, and podcasts. From U.S.-China tech battles to building trust between soldiers and their artificial intelligence tools, CSET experts continue to weigh in on the most compelling questions in emerging technology.
Axios
No matter who wins the elections in just under two weeks, the next administration will preside over a critical period in AI development, and the choices it makes can help ensure continued U.S. leadership. Axios Future covered CSET’s policy recommendations, made in a suite of one-pagers intended for use by the executive branch as well Congress and the private sector. The CSET one-pagers provide background and advice on five areas policymakers should address to advance U.S. interests in artificial intelligence, including: Imposing export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and AI chips; preserving the Optional Practical Training program; bolstering U.S. research security; open-source intelligence for S&T analysis; and an alliance-centered approach to AI. Axios Future also profiled CSET’s Foretell crowd forecasting pilot project, including the release of a new issue brief that uses recent forecast data to illustrate Foretell’s methodology. To round out the hat-trick, Axios Science covered the recent issue brief by Remco Zwetsloot and Jacob Feldgoise on Chinese students in the United States.
The New York Times
CSET has made two appearances on the pages of the Gray Lady since our last “Experts in the News” feature. Zachary Arnold’s July data brief focused on Canada’s successful attempts to attract skilled immigrants through its flagship Express Entry program. The Times cited Arnold’s brief in an article about reactions to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. That brief also showed up in a weekly Chronicle of Higher Education roundup of education news. In an article about Taiwan’s chip-making industry and the U.S.-China tech rivalry, The Times cited Carrick Flynn’s research on ultraviolet lithography machines, the powerful technology that allows manufacturers to draw transistors on silicon wafers with the precision “equivalent to shooting an arrow from Earth to hit an apple placed on the moon.”
FedScoop
Margarita Konaev’s series of policy briefs about how the Pentagon should effectively integrate AI by building trust in human-machine teams made waves in several outlets, including FedScoop, which spoke with Konaev for an article about the briefs. “There really is a consensus within military circles that trust is important to the relationship,” Konaev said, “It is something that we were expecting to see, but it really was not something that we found.” In addition to the trilogy, Konaev penned an article for Defense One. “As the Department of Defense races to develop AI-enabled tools and systems, there are outstanding questions about exactly where their investments are going, and what benefits and risks might result,” she wrote. “One key unknown: will commanders and troops trust their new tools enough to make them worth the effort?” FedScoop also covered in some detail CSET’s early-October event with WestExec Advisors featuring Michèle Flournoy, Avril Haines, and Gabrielle Chefitz. The publication summarized WestExec’s new report, which had debuted the previous day, about how the Pentagon can adapt its test, evaluation, validation and verification infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
The Wall Street Journal
With the tech rivalry between the United States and China heating up, policymakers and the public are paying closer attention to the tit-for-tat moves taking place in Washington and Beijing. CSET Senior Fellow Tarun Chhabra talked with The Wall Street Journal about a possible Chinese blacklist of U.S. businesses: “The implications of a blacklist could vary, said Tarun Chhabra, senior fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. They could range from target companies being banned outright in China, which he said ‘seems less likely at this juncture,’ to facing ‘more paperwork and bureaucratic scrutiny.’” Chhabra also spoke with the South China Morning Post for an article about Chinese R&D spending increases in the face of pressure from the United States. “If the US and its allies move to control critical ‘chokepoint’ technologies on a united and multilateral basis, while also investing in their own long-term competitiveness, the impact on China’s science and technology ambitions could be significant,” Chhabra told the Honk Kong paper.
VentureBeat
CSET Founding Director Jason Matheny’s testimony before the House Budget Committee on “Machines, Artificial Intelligence and the Workforce” was noted in a VentureBeat story about the Defense Innovation Board’s recommendations to the Pentagon. Then, in an article about brain drain in the artificial intelligence industry, VentureBeat cited Remco Zwetsloot’s 2019 report about keeping AI talent in the United States: “There’s evidence to suggest international AI Ph.D. candidates studying in the U.S. are countering the brain drain despite immigration challenges, with data from the Center for Security and Emerging Technology showing that 92% of graduates work in the U.S. post-graduation and 80% intend to stay if they can.”
As sweater weather approaches, we’re all looking for more interesting things to read. Want to peruse CSET’s research directly when it’s issued? Sign up for our day-of-release reports – and while you’re at it, have a look at our biweekly newsletter, policy.ai, along with our other offerings.