What Is the Impact of Generative AI and the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips Act on the Economy?

Sunday - July 23 2023, 02:04 UTC - 1 year ago

MIT Technology Review is launching Roundtables to discuss how generative AI's effects on the economy, the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips Act, and how Europe's AI Act, OECD principles, and industry standards aim to address potential risks of AI.

On August 10, MIT Technology Review is launching Roundtables, a participatory subscriber-only online event series, to keep you informed about emerging tech. There is little doubt that generative AI will affect the economy—but how, exactly, remains an open question. Despite fears that these AI tools will upend jobs and exacerbate wealth inequality, early evidence suggests the technology could help level the playing field—but only if we deploy it in the right ways .

Likewise, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips Act both have huge implications for the economy, and for efforts to revive America’s high-tech manufacturing base. Rotman and Honan will look at who stands to benefit from these transformative economic events, and what the risks are. Europe’s AI Act focuses on creating guardrails for "high-risk" AI used in health care and education systems. In the US, a patchwork of federal regulations and state laws govern certain aspects of automated systems, while work on a federal framework remains in the early stages .

Meanwhile, the OECD has set forth a set of nonbinding principles for AI development, and new industry standards are also taking shape. Heikkilä and Jee will walk subscribers through these and other approaches, mapping out the landscape of proposed policies that aim to redirect AI toward serving societal goals or address potential biases that put people at risk. By better understanding the implications of evolving AI technology on existing laws and the implications of new laws on the AI economy, we can ensure responsible growth of our industries .

It's imperative to consider the effects of introducing and utilizing highly regarded standards to evaluate AI applications, the advances of Europe’s AI Act, and U.S. federal and state policies.