WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today announced he would travel to California this month to speak directly with Artificial Intelligence (AI) leaders, and released the following statement:

Artificial intelligence and robotics will transform the world. Today, a handful of billionaires in Silicon Valley are making decisions behind closed doors that will shape the future of humanity. Meanwhile, working people have no voice in these discussions, and far too little visibility into the rapid changes already underway.

That is why I look forward to visiting California this month to meet with AI leaders and to ask the fundamental questions we need to be asking as a country. Here is just some of what I plan to raise:

Who will be in charge of the transformation into an AI world? Is the goal of the AI revolution simply to make the very rich even richer and more powerful, or will this technology be used to benefit all of us?

What impact will AI and robotics have on working people? If AI and robotics eliminate millions of jobs, how will people survive if they have no income?

What will AI mean for our democracy? At a time when authoritarianism is rising, will AI and robotics help make us a freer, more democratic society or will it give even more power to the oligarchs who control the technology?

Does AI raise an existential threat to the human species? The “Godfather of AI”, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, recently told me that it was only a matter of time before AI becomes smarter than humans. How do we work together with the international community to prevent this extraordinary threat?

Bottom line: AI and robotics are the most transformative technologies in the history of humanity. The American people must determine how AI impacts their lives. We can’t let those enormously important decisions rest in the hands of a handful of billionaires.

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-to-meet-with-ai-leaders-in-california/