Responsible, by ClearOPS

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Trump’s second term has begun and he immediately repealed a bunch of Biden’s Executive Orders. I am not chicken little, so I don’t think the sky is falling on AI governance or regulation in general. Government is slow and the work takes time.

But I do have my popcorn out to see if DOGE does anything. I mean I checked the website twice today and it changed both times (with the last one including an obviously AI generated image).

What I have for you this week:

• How AI is impacting climate change

• Are you kidding me?

• Caroline’s weekly AI Governance tips

• Chef Maggie Recommends

• AI Tool of the Week

• AI Bites

I cringe when I use anything plastic. All I can think about is a comment made from a woman I know many years ago where she joked that she looked young for her age because of all the microplastic she consumes (implying she was half plastic).

We know it is a problem, but we still have not completely eradicated plastic. In fact, some countries still subsidize its production.

Ew.

But the interesting thing about plastic is that it is just purely an environmental disaster. There is no “pro” to using it.

The same is not true about the environmental effect of AI. AI is known to require significant energy and water. In fact, one chat on ChatGPT consumes 10 times the energy as the same search on Google. But, AI also can be a pro for the environment as stated in a report by PwC that AI could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 4% by 2030.

Ethical dilemmas arise when there is no clear right or wrong. In speaking to one person recently, they intend to ban all AI based purely on the environmental impact. I heard their argument and it was compelling, but I cannot follow the same path. Not only do I run an AI company, but I believe that it will eventually be beneficial for the environment. I even argued to this same person that the compute power of AI will be reduced and soon, making it much more energy efficient.

I did not bring blockchain into this debate.

My point is that even if we agree on a basic principle, such as protecting our environment, the individual decisions made in furtherance of that goal can diverge.

It’s not easy, but it is worth the debate so that we don’t end up in the same place that we are with plastics. I really don’t want to be half AI.

Did you see the reaction on social media to a new AI company called Boardy?

I almost hate to write about it because it gives the company even more attention but let me tell you how this company absolutely failed at AI governance.

So here is the story: Boardy is some sort of networking app (I did not look it up because I don’t care and will now never use it) and it recently announced an $8M series seed financing that was done, supposedly, without the founder speaking personally to the investors. All conversations were handled by Boardy, the AI chatbot, voice representative.

Nice publicity stunt. (disclaimer, I am not sure if this is even true)

So, yesterday, apparently this little chatty bot decided to comment on people’s appearance on their LinkedIn profile as a means of getting their attention. Here, here, here and here are posts about it. The backlash is intense and so is the founder’s apology tour.

Usually, I have a lot of sympathy for founders who make big mistakes. I mean, I make them all the time. But not this time because it is just so stupid.

But what I think is critically fascinating is that people took to LinkedIn and social media to complain. They did not reach out to the founder. Even if some people did, clearly many did not. And that says something about AI bots - people have no loyalty to them.

I know each one of my customers personally. I am quite certain that if they had a problem with my AI, and they have, they would reach out to me and let me know. I make it a point to listen and take their frustrations and deal with them and it’s not awkward. No one felt a connection to Boardy or its founder and so they took to social media.

Alright, maybe I feel a little sorry for him because he doesn’t know his own customers.