White House's New Artificial Intelligence Website [PHIL-OSOPHY]

The White House has launched a new website, AI.gov, to make Artificial Intelligence research more accessible across the nation.

The U.S. once led significantly in the global Artificial Intelligence race, but now risks being left behind by China. This is primarily why the White House is drumming up excitement for AI while broadening educational opportunities in the field. The website's target audience is the general public, and its purpose is to make information available to teachers, students interested in science, and inquisitive humanoids.

There are pros and cons when discussing Artificial Intelligence, and we need to be very careful with the development of "thinking" computers. Elon Musk spoke at MIT's AeroAstro Centennial Symposium, and he said basically the same thing.

"I'm increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight, may at the national and international level, just to make sure we don't do something very foolish. I mean with Artificial Intelligence, we're summoning the demon," Musk said.

Do you think Elon means the demon, as in the little devils in The Matrix or The Terminator? Could they come true? Come to think of it, the automatons in 2001: A Space Odyssey and I, Robot weren't very nice mechanical thinking persons, either! There is one exception I'll mention in a moment, but I hope the Artificial Intelligence that will make the White House its home is used to support humanity instead of replacing it.

The one time I saw something positive come from Artificial Intelligence was in the Academy Award-winning movie WALL-E, about the garbage-collecting robot programmed to clean up all of mankind's trash that was just left to rot or rust. However, after 700 years, WALL-E has developed one glitch that wasn't supposed to happen: a personality with feelings.

Speaking of emotions, Pixar did such a fabulous job on this film, my grandchildren caught their Papou wiping a tear as the movie was ending. Now, I don't want to be a movie spoiler here, but watch the film for yourself and as for the White House, they ought to consider having WALL-E and BURN-E as tour guides for the new Artificial Intelligence website.

Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.