Wednesday, Sept. 16, the College of William and Mary hosted KCRW’s political podcast “Left, Right & Center” for a live recording in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall as part of the College’s Year of Civic Leadership.
Hosted by David Greene, former NPR Morning Edition host, the podcast unites both sides of the political spectrum to discuss pressing issues. Mike Dubke, President Donald Trump’s former communications director, and Mo Elleithee, executive director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service, joined Greene for this episode.
Greene opened by asking his guests their opinions on the CEO of Anthropic, an artificial intelligence safety and research company, calling for AI regulations.
Dubke explained potential motivations for AI companies advocating for self-regulation.
“They’re either making a calculated admission that they’ve lost control of their own product, or if you’re a trade lawyer, they’re basically saying, ‘Hey government, you’ve got to give us some sandbox to play in so we don’t get accused of trust violations down the pike,’” Dubke said. “They’re closed-source and for-profit companies that might want to freeze out other companies and organizations in the market.”
Elleithee agreed that there are multiple possible causes for AI companies asking to be regulated. He also said that their actions don’t align with their words.
“I take it all with a little grain of salt, considering that there is no industry spending more money in this election cycle through Super PACs than AI companies,” Elleithee said. “They just spent $8 million on the state legislative race in New York to defeat a guy who was proposing regulation.”
Dubke said he believes that national leaders will soon unite to regulate AI out of self-preservation.
“I’ve got to believe that the Chinese Communist Party is more freaked out by AI than we are,” he said. “To unleash a system that could actually allow communication amongst the populace outside the control of the party has got to freak them out.”
Elleithee expressed uncertainty.
“The U.S. has to show up to this conversation if it happens,” Elleithee said. “Right now, under the current leadership, I’m not sure it will.”
Greene applauded the College’s early and continued conversations about student AI use.
“I was impressed to see that William and Mary has been proactive in talking about professors and how they should be thinking about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable,” he said.
Greene then fielded questions from the audience.
In response to a question on meaningful conversations about divisive topics, Dubke stressed the importance of curiosity.
“Being curious means not being certain of everything you believe,” Dubke said. “Having a conversation with somebody who’s diametrically opposed to you, or even somebody who just gently disagrees with you, in my opinion, helps you understand and articulate yourself better.”
Elleithee echoed this sentiment.
“Take a moment to understand where the other side is coming from,” he said. “You’ll more easily come to common motivation.”
