by April Ryan
The threat that unregulated AI poses to civil rights and national security is a top priority of the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights according to its president and executive director, Damon Hewitt. The rights organization has been working to reach Trump officials on AI bias data they presented to the major 2024 presidential campaigns during the race for the White House. Just days into the second Trump term, Damon Hewitt says the priority hasn’t changed but the strategy will.
The push by the rights group comes on the heels of the White House announcing a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. Stargate is funded by the private sector and will build data centers along with electricity generation. Days before the Trump Stargate announcement Hewitt expressed a concern about how the administration “by invitation” will allow “companies to run a muck” when it comes to unregulated AI.
Just last week, Jake Sullivan, the outgoing Biden administration National Security advisor said: “There have been a lot of studies to show that [AI] bias is a genuine challenge. AI bias can undermine social cohesion in the United States and globally.” The former national security advisor also implicated problems in the fight against terrorism with biased AI intelligence. When Hewitt learned of Sullivan’s statement, he said: “The acknowledgment is important.”
During the Biden administration, the focus on AI bias was addressed through the administration’s AI Bill of Rights and an AI Executive Order. Hewitt believed the Biden administration understood the pervasiveness of the problem. Now Hewitt is working to make Trump officials more aware. A Trump administration staffer said: “The AI bias concern is early in the administration and there is more to come.” However, it is uncertain if “more to come” will include addressing the issue of AI bias.
