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Georgia Senator John Albers sees opportunities and risks in AI

Photo by Sergi Kabrera on Unsplash

Artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere these days, from big corporations to the devices in the palms of our hands. It's also attracted the attention of state lawmakers. Earlier this year, the Georgia Senate established a special Study committee on AI. Senator John Albers (R-Roswell) is the chair of that committee. He spoke to WUGA's Martin Matheny about the committee's work and what they're learning.

Martin Matheny: What prompted the formation of this special study committee about AI?

John Albers: I have a background in technology and I have been watching it evolve for decades. What really changed in the last couple of years is as the machines themselves could start to learn and teach, and that process really took the innovation and started skyrocketing what was happening.

The evolution of it has gone from a simple little gain to really exponential growth. Knowing this was going to impact every part of our lives, I thought it was very important that we begin to assess - how do we as government, state government, which also charters our school systems, our counties and our cities, be prepared to handle this? The good, the bad and the ugly.

Matheny: And speaking of the good and bad and the ugly, what do you see as some of the the ramifications, both positive and negative, of the the growth of AI?

Albers: Sure. Well, AI first off is going to revolutionize the way we work, the way we act, as well as what it means for things like healthcare. This will undoubtedly solve some of our biggest world problems. Things such as curing cancer and other diseases, you know, allow people to live longer and healthier lives. It will provide the ability for us to increase our agricultural output and other natural resources by using these rules, but at the same point there are great risks because what is done for great good is always going to be used for great harm.

... most innovations that have happened since the Industrial Revolution have impacted blue collar workers, both reduced and created jobs. This, more uniquely, is going to actually eliminate a lot more white collar jobs.
Sen. John Albers

Georgia Senator John Albers (R-Roswell)
Georgia State Senate
Georgia Senator John Albers (R-Roswell)

You think about people's personal privacy and data. There'll be a huge impact in the workforce like we have never seen before. As an example, most innovations that have happened since the Industrial Revolution have impacted blue collar workers, both reduced and created jobs. This, more uniquely, is going to actually eliminate a lot more white collar jobs. And while we today need more people in blue collar jobs, it is going to be an extraordinary shift - AI essentially replacing human workers over time in a number of fields.

Matheny: What's your message to Georgians who may be starting to worry about that happening to them?

Albers: We've seen so much tremendous innovation in this world and every time a new innovation appears, it reduces and then creates other opportunities.

So I would say be nimble, make sure that your experience is broad so you can change over time. Anybody who ever began in the workforce at any time of their career had to learn new things. You have to learn to be flexible and you have to learn this new technology.

You have to learn to be flexible and you have to learn this new technology.
Sen. John Albers

Now AI is not going to eliminate all jobs, but it's definitely going to impact significant parts of the workforce. That being said, it will also create new jobs. As an example, AI will probably be the tool that gets people to live 10, 20, 30-plus years longer than they do today. Well, that creates a lot of healthcare jobs because although healthcare can be improved with artificial intelligence, you're still going to need people to care for patients.

You will see, I believe, more good than bad in AI, but we also have to be responsible. We have to make sure that we're putting the parameters in place to impact that.

Martin Matheny is WUGA's Program Director and a host and producer of our local news program 'Athens News Matters.' He started at WUGA in 2012 as a part-time classical music host and still hosts WUGA's longest-running local program 'Night Music' which is heard on WUGA and GPB Classical. He lives in Normaltown with his wife, Shaye and dog, Murphy.