President of the United States Barack Obama speaking on the recovering housing sector at Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Flickr)
Former President Barack Obama issued a stark warning to Democrats last week about a "dangerous" development he urged them to tackle, according to a new report.
Obama's address at a private fundraiser in Manhattan urged House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to be prepared to move in 2027 should the Democrats reclaim the majority in November, the New York Times reported Sunday.
“Once you are speaker, I would strongly urge that the Democrats put together a framework for a very public conversation," Obama said. “I would talk about this, and I would say, ‘Here’s our plan for safety. Here’s our plan for making sure our kids are not corrupted by this.'"
The "this" in question? Artificial Intelligence.
Obama warned AI could be "dangerous" if left unrestrained and warned Democrats to prioritize protections in the years to come, according to a transcript reviewed by the Times.
The former president also urged candidates running for president in 2028 to come prepared with “a very clear plan” to address safety and economic concerns linked to AI, according to the report.
"In a Democratic Party with no clear leader, many look to Mr. Obama for guidance, and his comments carry considerable weight," the Times noted.
"The remarks come amid escalating worries about the risks associated with A.I. development, as well as growing calls for lawmakers and politicians to do more to tackle the topic."
Another challenge Democrats will face is the millions of dollars in support tech industries donate to their political campaigns amid mounting concerns over potential safety risks, according to the report.
"This year’s elections have been flooded with money from A.I. companies and allied groups," the report noted. "And anxiety about the technology, a rare issue that many Republican and Democratic voters can agree on, has peaked in recent days after a researcher at the A.I. company Anthropic loudly and publicly resigned, writing in a viral social media post that 'the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.'”
Obama, while professing himself not to be a "doomer" on the issue, did urge Democrats to think seriously about the implications for American workers.
“I would be thinking about the economic impacts in very concrete ways and understanding what does it mean if there’s going to be job displacement,” Obama reportedly said.
“If it turns out that you’ve got a lot more people who can’t find full-time work because they’ve been rendered redundant, how are we going to respond?”