White House convenes Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI to discuss the impact of AI on society

As the United States Federal Trade Commission cautions businesses against violating fair market competition while deploying artificial intelligence technologies, the White House is set to convene a discussion with industry players, including Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, in order to elucidate the potential societal ramifications of artificial intelligence.

This meeting will be attended by United States Vice President Kamala Harris, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, and high-ranking members of the Biden administration. Among the invited technology industry executives are Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The conference is scheduled to take place on May 4th, local time in the United States.

Prior to this, President Biden had disclosed the necessity to monitor the impact of artificial intelligence and urged technology companies to assume responsibility for their AI products. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy had also previously addressed the potential psychological health consequences and fatigue that may arise from utilizing artificial intelligence and automation technologies to evaluate employee performance, thus mandating that technology companies prioritize these concerns.

For instance, Amazon had previously employed automation technologies to ascertain if warehouse workers were slacking or idling, ultimately resulting in psychological stress among numerous employees. Consequently, the United States government has expressed skepticism about the technology industry’s practice of assessing employee performance through artificial intelligence and automation methods.