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This conference, hosted by Capitol Weekly and the University of California Student and Policy Center, brought together California lawmakers and experts in AI technology and policy to discuss California’s role as a global leader in AI, specifically in creating legislation and regulations that will help the state maintain leadership in the emerging industry and protect Californians.
Raissa D’Souza, a UC Davis professor of computer science and mechanical and aerospace engineering, as well as the co-director of the UC Davis AI Center in Engineering participated in the panel “California: A Leader in AI Technology,” along with Senator Jerry McNerny, Sara Flocks of the California Labor Federation, and Andrea Deveau of tech lobbying firm Deveau Burr Group. The panel was moderated by Chase DiFeliciantonio, an AI and automation reporter for POLITICO.
The panelists discussed topics such as laws and regulations they would like to see in California to make AI safer, how to create guardrails that continue to spark innovation, and what the outcome could be in five years if California does not establish muscular regulations.
“We need to think about the whole AI ecosystem and how we regulate it to benefit the state of California, the country and the world,” D’Souza said during the panel. “Being nimble, transparent and accountable is really what we should focus on. I would be interested in enforcing public ownership of AI to help us deal with copyright infringement, workforce retraining and help quash some of the monopolies that we are seeing. I would love to see transparency so that I have more options as a consumer. We also need accountability, because transparency without accountability won’t get us where we need to be.”