As President-elect Biden prepares to take office and the 117th Congress begins, CSET scholars offered recommendations for addressing critical issues affecting U.S. and overseas development of artificial intelligence. Their observations built on briefing papers provided to officials with the Biden and Trump camps and then published online in September.
Continued leadership in artificial intelligence will require an alliance-centered strategy, targeted export controls and support for the U.S. research community that attracts global talent while defending against security threats.
CSET experts Helen Toner, Andrew Imbrie, Melissa Flagg and Remco Zwetsloot discussed these recommendations for the Biden Administration.
Recording and Discussion
Participants
Helen Toner is Director of Strategy at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). She previously worked as a Senior Research Analyst at the Open Philanthropy Project, where she advised policymakers and grantmakers on AI policy and strategy. Between working at Open Philanthropy and joining CSET, Helen lived in Beijing, studying the Chinese AI ecosystem as a Research Affiliate of Oxford University’s Center for the Governance of AI. Helen has written for Foreign Affairs and other outlets on the national security implications of AI and machine learning for China and the United States, as well as testifying before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Helen holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering and a Diploma in Languages from the University of Melbourne.
Andrew Imbrie is a Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). He previously worked as a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and as a senior advisor to Visiting Distinguished Statesman Secretary John F. Kerry. Prior to Carnegie, he served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department, where he was a speechwriter to Secretary Kerry. Before moving to the Department of State, he served as a professional staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He teaches foreign policy speechwriting and rhetoric to graduate and undergraduate students at Georgetown University. He received his B.A. in the Humanities from Connecticut College and an M.A. from the Walsh School of Foreign Service. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Georgetown University. His book on the future of American power is under contract with Yale University Press.
Dr. Melissa Flagg is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University. Melissa is also a non-resident senior fellow at The Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center. Previously she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, responsible for policy and oversight of Defense Department science and technology programs including basic research through advanced technology development and the DoD laboratory enterprise. She has worked at the State Department, the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Army Research Laboratory.
Melissa also ran her own consulting business and was the Chief Technology Officer of a small consumer start-up. She has served on numerous boards including the National Academy of Sciences Air Force Studies Board, the Department of Commerce Emerging Technology Research Advisory Committee and the Board of Humanity 2050. She holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a B.S. in Pharmacy.
Remco Zwetsloot is a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) focused on global talent flows in AI and their policy implications. His writing on AI has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Lawfare and other publications. He is also a Research Affiliate and Ph.D. (D.Phil.) Scholar at the University of Oxford’s Center for the Governance of AI. He has previously worked at OpenAI and holds degrees from Yale University (M.Phil., Political Science), the University of Oxford (M.Phil., International Relations) and University College Roosevelt (B.A., Social Science).