AI and the Public Interest
How Competition Policy Can Help Protect Democracy, Safety, Property, and Innovation
November 15, 2023
In-person and online | WASHINGTON, D.C.
JW Marriott |1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
FEATURING
Alvaro Bedoya - Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
Doha Mekki - Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice Antitrust Division
Andreas Schwab - Member of the European Parliament, European People's Party
Christy Hoffman - General Secretary, UNI Global Union
Tim Wu - Professor at Columbia Law School, former special assistant to the President for technology and competition policy
Zephyr Teachout - Professor of Law at Fordham University, Special Advisor for Economic Justice to New York AG Letitia James
Julia Angwin - Investigative journalist, contributing Opinion writer for the New York Times
Jen Jacobsen - Executive Director, Artist Rights Alliance
Susan Benesch - Founder & Director of the Dangerous Speech Project
Rana Foroohar - Global business columnist and associate editor, Financial Times
Cristina Caffarra - Honorary Professor, University College London
Suresh Venkatasubramanian - Director of the Center for Tech Responsibility; Professor of Computer Science, Brown University
Laura Edelson - Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Northeastern University. Co-Director, Cybersecurity for Democracy
Johnny Ryan - Senior fellow Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Open Markets Institute. Former Chief Policy Officer Brave Software
Ashley Irwin - President, Society of Composers & Lyricists
Justin Hendrix - CEO and Editor, Tech Policy Press
Ben Wiseman - Associate Director, Division of Privacy & Identity Protection, FTC
Nora Benavidez - Senior Council and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, Free Press
Liz Pelly - Freelance journalist specialized in music industry
Sarah Myers West - Managing Director, AI Now Institute
Amba Kak - Executive Director, AI Now Institute
Courtney Radsch - Director, Center for Journalism and Liberty, Open Markets Institute
Max von Thun - Director, Europe, Open Markets Institute
Karina Montoya - Senior Reporter, Center for Journalism and Liberty, Open Markets Institute
Barry Lynn - Executive Director, Open Markets Institute
Please join the Open Markets Institute and the AI Now Institute on November 15 in Washington for a wide-ranging discussion about how to understand the promise, threats, and practical regulatory challenges we face in managing the advent of large scale AI.
Since bursting into public debate a year ago, the recent wave of AI has been celebrated by many as a technological breakthrough that promises huge boosts in productivity and innovation. Others however, loudly warn that AI poses considerable threats to the wellbeing of individuals and the stability of our democracy and society. A third group claims AI gravely endangers national security, fueling an arms race against the Chinese state. Meanwhile, writers and artists fear AI will further undermine their ownership of what they create, devalue their skills, and ultimately destroy their careers.
We will also examine large scale AI in relation to the already existing powers, structures, and behaviors of the corporations that control these technologies and the computing systems on which they depend. And we will ask whether antitrust and other competition law and policy can play a role in protecting democracy, individual health and wellbeing, the properties of creators, and open and competitive innovation.
The event will bring together leading policymakers, law enforcers, technologists, entrepreneurs, writers, musicians, policy experts, and academics, from the United States and Europe.
AGENDA
9:00am OPENING REMARKS
Barry Lynn - Executive Director, Open Markets Institute
Sarah Myers West - Managing Director, AI Now Institute
9:15am LANDSCAPE DISCUSSION #1: AI Is a Monopoly Problem
An overview of the chokepoints in the AI Supply Chain/Tech Stack
Sarah Myers West - Managing Director, AI Now Institute
Max Von Thun - Director, Europe, Open Markets Institute
9:35am LANDSCAPE DISCUSSION #2: AI is a Threat to Democracy and Free Thought
Monopoly control over AI threatens to exacerbate online disinformation, destruction of news, & the closing of civic space.
Nora Benavidez - Senior Council & Director of Digital Justice & Civil Rights, Free Press
Susan Benesch - Founder & Director of the Dangerous Speech Project
Moderated by Courtney Radsch - Director, Center for Journalism and Liberty, Open Markets Institute
10:15am KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Christy Hoffman, General Secretary, UNI Global Union Focus: AI & Work, Democracy, & Liberty
10:40am LANDSCAPE DISCUSSION #3: Harms to Artists and Human Creativity
Exploring the questions: Who Owns Art? Who or What Creates? Plus, the Junkification of Content
Liz Pelly - Freelance journalist specialized in the music industry
Ashley Irwin - President of the Society of Composers & Lyricists
Jen Jacobsen - Executive Director, Artist Rights Alliance
Moderated by Justin Hendrix, CEO & Editor, Tech Policy Press
11:25am COFFEE BREAK
11:40am MODERATED CONVERSATION with Alvaro Bedoya, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
Moderated by Cristina Caffarra - Honorary Professor, University College London
12:10pm LUNCH
1:00pm LANDSCAPE DISCUSSION #4: Competition Law & Enforcement - The Current State of Play
The White House Executive Order on AI & the AI Bill of Rights, European legislation, Enforcement Actions. Covering what’s missing and whether we need a hierarchy of harms to guide government action.
Andreas Schwab - Member of the European Parliament, European People's Party
Cristina Caffarra - Honorary Professor, University College London
Suresh Venkatasubramanian - Director of the Center for Tech Responsibility, Professor of Computer Science, Brown University
Moderated by Amba Kak - Executive Director, AI Now Institute
1:50pm LANDSCAPE DISCUSSION #5: The Global AI Arms Race
Examining industry narratives and how they’re shaping the AI conversation
Tim Wu - Professor at Columbia Law School, former Special Assistant to the President for Technology & Competition Policy
Rana Foroohar - Global business columnist and associate editor, Financial Times
Laura Edelson - Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Northeastern University, Co-Director, Cybersecurity for Democracy
Moderated by Sarah Myers West - Managing Director, AI Now Institute
2:40pm COFFEE BREAK
2:55pm LANDSCAPE DISCUSSION #6: The Manipulation Machine – The Missing Factor
How corporate gatekeepers manipulate workers, publishers, government, the economy, & the public. By shining a greater light on this manipulation, we hope to help dispel it & offer better, public-oriented solutions.
Zephyr Teachout - Professor of Law at Fordham University, Special Advisor for Economic Justice to New York AG Letitia James
Julia Angwin - Investigative journalist and contributing Opinion writer, New York Times
Johnny Ryan - Senior fellow Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Open Markets Institute, Former Chief Policy Officer Brave Software
Karina Montoya - Senior Reporter, Center for Journalism and Liberty, Open Markets Institute
Moderated by Barry Lynn
3:50pm MODERATED CONVERSATION with Doha Mekki - Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice Antitrust Division
Moderated by Rana Foroohar - Global business columnist and associate editor, Financial Times
4:15pm LANDSCAPE DISCUSSION #7: AI Power & Control – A Few Quick Fixes?
These are the actions we can take now to break chokepoints, reign in abusive business models and behavior, protect property, and rebuild democracy
Ben Wiseman - Associate Director, Division of Privacy & Identity Protection, FTC
Sarah Myers West - Managing Director, AI Now Institute
Max von Thun - Director, Europe, Open Markets Institute
Moderated by Courtney Radsch
5:00pm CLOSING REMARKS
Amba Kak - Executive Director, AI Now Institute
Barry Lynn - Executive Director, Open Markets Institute
