Conservatives have become bystanders when it comes to America’s greatest threat: Artificial Intelligence. A new Goliath has emerged and, if we are not careful, riskier forms of advanced AI will take our jobs, our livelihoods, and our collective future. Just like social media has monopolized our attention and stolen precious time from our children, advanced AI threatens that and much more.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” initially included language that would strip states of their right to legislate on privacy and online safety concerning deepfakes and child exploitation. Fortunately, the language was stripped, but talk of the state AI moratorium is expected to flare up again soon.
Then there is the administration, which recently awarded Palantir -- an AI-powered military and surveillance giant -- a $795 million defense contract, blurring the lines between national security and a potential police state.
The examples are endless. Today, nearly three-quarters of U.S. teenagers have used AI companions, and half use them regularly. Many lean on AI for love and affection. At the same time, expert after AI expert points to a “white-collar bloodbath” where millions of jobs are destroyed and not replaced.
Not even highly-skilled workers are safe from risky AI. We are all David.
If conservatives truly care about privacy, safety, and economic growth, now is the time to speak out about the AI tsunami that threatens them all. But, for the most part, we are not hearing a peep from many conservative leaders.
First, some of them are too afraid of AI. Yes, advanced AI is complex. And, yes, the risks are real. But we have made a critical error in chalking it up to “new technology” or “trusting the experts.”
Since when did we start trusting the experts again? Did we do that when socialism started sneaking into third-grade classrooms? Or when colleges restricted free speech?
Or how about COVID-19? Did we fold and get triple-vaccinated during the pandemic, blindly “trusting the experts” in Washington, D.C. or Silicon Valley? Of course not.
Alas, the U.S.-China race for superintelligence is distracting conservatives from AI’s potential pitfalls at home. Maintaining an offensive position against China and other foreign adversaries is non-negotiable, but Cold Waresque rhetoric is making it easier for Big Tech to cut corners on very basic safety standards in the Wild West of AI development.
On average, frontier AI labs have such poor security that any AI breakthrough in the U.S. is vulnerable to Chinese espionage, with the chips used to develop AI often smuggled into China.
Part of the reason for conservative silence is the perception of AI as a shiny new economic object. The trap set before free-market folks is built on a belief -- repeated by Silicon Valley billionaires -- that new technology brings risk-free economic growth, albeit failing to acknowledge the ethical and moral considerations associated with unprecedented billion-dollar investments in AI.
An AI-integrated world determines who controls society -- from deepfakes to mass surveillance and AI-powered weapons.
Does Silicon Valley’s control have to be inevitable? These are not abstract risks. Conservatives believe in restraint, especially when it comes to California’s left-wing politics. Now is the time to apply that principle. Now is the time to lead.
There is a place for AI in our society, but not without effective safeguards. And there is definitely no place for conservative inaction on the most important issue of our time.
We have the upper hand -- for now. But for how long?
Peyton Hornberger serves as communications director at The Alliance for Secure AI, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the implications of advanced AI.
Image: Jérémy Barande