The impacts of artificial intelligence are, in many ways, contingent on the decisions of a small, powerful group of tech elites, but ordinary people have a central role to play in demanding reasonable regulation of the technology, Kara Swisher told Andrew Lack on Thursday.
“We are in the new nuclear age, and you need to understand what that means,” Swisher told a crowd at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson at Mississippi Today’s 10th Anniversary Celebration. “And demand that your public officials do their job.”
Lack, a journalist and media executive, and Swisher, one of the nation’s most prominent technology journalists, delved into how AI could reshape the world. Lack is the executive chairman and founder of Mississippi Today and Deep South Today and the former chairman and CEO of NBC News. Swisher hosts the podcasts “On with Kara Swisher” and “Pivot”
The talk came at a time when the rapid rise of AI has ignited both excitement and concern around the globe about the ripple effects of the fast-advancing technology across society. In the American news industry, outlets of every size are working to make sense of what AI will mean for the journalism they produce, their business models and their relationships with the public.
Swisher cut her teeth covering the technology industry — for outlets such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Vox — as it came to dominate nearly every aspect of American life. During that time, she developed relationships with many of the world’s most powerful tech titans, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Sergey Brin and Dario Amodei.
She has since fallen out with many of them, most notably Musk. The world’s richest man and President Donald Trump mega donor has called her an “asshole.” Swisher, for her part, has called Musk a “one-man wrecking ball” and a “professional adult toddler.”
Back when they were on speaking terms, Swisher said on Thursday, Musk was an early figure to raise the alarm about the potential risks of AI.
But he has since raced to join the AI arms race and, along with his competitors, has thrown caution to the wind, Swisher said. That is why it’s important to remember that AI is not yet a technology with a life of its own, but one with humans at the helm.
“The tool is not the problem, and one of the ways it’s being pushed by tech people is, you know, there’s a 10% chance AI will kill the human race,” Swisher said. “Actually, it’s not AI that will kill the human race. It’s the people making AI that will kill the human race, and so we take the technology and blame the technology instead of blaming the person.”
In Mississippi and nearby states, the proliferation of data centers, including those pushed by Musk, has stirred a wave of private investment and public backlash.
Tech leaders, Swisher said, are running “into a buzzsaw of anger,” necessitating more public input into how AI is regulated. But these same tech leaders have poured money into the political apparatus of Trump, who has returned the favor by vowing to avoid regulating AI, she added.
Swisher and Lack have ridden the tides of a changing media landscape over their careers, but AI might present more potential to disrupt the news industry than any technology in history.
Lack quoted an Axios report on a shadowy political polling firm that warned of the rise of an “AI-enabled flood of outright fabricated content” that is “wreaking havoc on reality, poisoning the signals that most people rely on to understand just basic politics, business, and culture.”
Despite the threats and challenges posed by AI, Swisher said, it was still important to remain optimistic about the positive potential of the technology, such as in medical research, while staying clear-eyed about its risks if left unregulated.
“The deli on my corner has more regulation than a tech company,” Swisher said.
The discussion served as the keynote session at the “All In on Mississippi” summit, an event hosted by Mississippi Today featuring conversations about the forces shaping Mississippi’s future. The summit event is the second of a two-day event celebrating Mississippi Today’s first decade of reporting.
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