Lawmakers, AI regulation advocates, religious leaders, parents, and artists gathered in Washington on Tuesday for an event hosted by the Future of Life Institute. Known as the Pro-Human Assembly, the meeting aimed to urge Congress to act more quickly to curb the impact of expanding artificial intelligence technology.
Among the participants were progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and rightwing strategist Steve Bannon. Despite their opposing political ideologies, the two men appeared separately at the assembly to call for urgent regulatory action and stringent guardrails against Silicon Valley oligarchs. Bannon noted that the threats posed by artificial intelligence span across political ideology.
While united in their warnings about the potential dangers of AI, Sanders and Bannon offered competing visions regarding what they termed a cold war with China. Despite these differences, the event highlighted a moment where partisanship took a back seat as attendees called for a pro-human approach to the technology.