The AI Literacy Gap Hobbling American Officialdom - War on the Rocks

AI education for end users must provide leaders with a firm grasp of the basic underlying principles of AI and a grounded sense of its development trajectory. Akin to the combustion engine or electricity, AI is an enabling technology that will augment currently existing systems and enable new functions, rather than a singular piece of technology with a specific set of uses. Recognizing the general-purpose character of AI will help policymakers avoid the logical fallacy that AI is a sort of widget to bolt on to an existing capability to give it autonomous power. Coupled with recognizing the limits of algorithms, framing AI in this manner will allow less-technical security leaders to start to better envision where AI can fit into existing institutions and systems, and where it would be most useful to integrate or introduce. Finally, it is essential for U.S. leaders to be aware of the status of AI development in other countries, as well as AI-centric policies and regulations, funding mechanisms, organizations, educational initiatives, human capital systems, and best practices that other countries have employed to cultivate their own nascent AI programs.