Economist Warns Government Could Be Main ‘Bottleneck’ in AI Progress

While the headlines often emphasize the danger of rapid innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), one economist told Congress on Dec. 6 that the risks from AI to government are outweighed by the risks of not implementing it fast enough.

“Managing the AI transition will require the government to not only adopt AI aggressively but may even force Congress to rethink the configuration of our administrative and regulatory agencies from the ground up,” said Samuel Hammond, a senior economist with the Foundation for American Innovation, formerly the Lincoln Network.

“Incremental reform is unlikely to suffice,” he continued, warning that business as usual could “risk government becoming the primary bottleneck to technological progress.”

Mr. Hammond was speaking at a House Oversight hearing focused on the White House’s AI policy.

Two days later, the Office of Management and Budget, the White House’s linchpin for translating its policies into actions by federal agencies, issued a draft…