Susan Ariel Aaronson (George Washington U Elliott International Affairs) has posted “A Dysfunctional Dialogue About AI-NTIA and the Public on The Risks and Benefits of Open Foundation Models” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In 2023, US President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order asking the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to consult with the public “on the potential risks, benefits, other implications and appropriate policy and regulatory approaches related to dual-use foundation models for which the model weights are widely available” (NTIA: 2024a, Section 4.6a). The author used a landscape analysis to examine the dialogue between US officials (specifically the National Telecommunications and Information Agency-NTIA) and the public on open foundation models. The dialogue was dysfunctional. NTIA had many questions (some 52 in total), and most people did not answer the bulk of questions, concentrating on one or two. Many of the respondents responded anonymously. The author also found that these respondents were not an accurate, complete and representative sample of potential views. Most of the respondents who responded publicly had a direct stake in these issues. Very few with a more indirect stake such as consumers responded. Such a finding is typical of democracies, per Mancur Olson. NTIA did not make an extensive effort to get a diversity of responses. Moreover, NTIA did not include any details about the public response in its final response in July 2024. NTIA officials seemed to see their responsibilities as informing and soliciting the public but not really engaging in a collaborative approach to these important issues. This analysis also reveals it is not easy to get useful public comment or to ensure that a diverse body of citizens are heard. Consequently, the author urges policymakers to rethink how they engage with their citizens on AI. The paper concludes by advocating for alternative approaches to public consultation on AI, including citizen science strategies, which offer greater potential for meaningful public engagement and trust-building.