Science desk: Beware of AI Misregulation
At a recent Senate hearing, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman cited the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s work as the kind of regulation he favors for AI, while AI “researcher-turned-critic” Gary Marcus argued that AI “should be licensed in much the same way that the FDA approves new drugs,” reports Reason’s Ronald Bailey. Huh? “NRC overregulation” leads to “more deaths from pollution and accidents” and more greenhouse-gas emissions. “Delayed drug approvals by the FDA result in higher mortality than speedily approving drugs that later need to be withdrawn.” A new AI agency modeled after the NRC and the FDA would most likely just “deny us access to the substantial benefits of the technology while providing precious little extra safety.”
War watch: US Needs the Will To Back Victory
“Thanks to Western air defenses Kyiv says it took down 18 projectiles, including six hypersonic missiles” launched by Russia, cheers The Wall Street Journal editorial board. President Zelensky wants another 20 Patriot systems but “the U.S. is reluctant to donate more” amid a shortage. Yet President “Biden can still decide to dig deeper into allied stocks for Ukraine, while launching an all-out effort to build more faster.” And to end the war, Ukraine needs “the long-range Army tactical missile system that Mr. Biden has refused to offer.” The US needs a “political will” that matches the “Patriot’s prowess” and our “ingenuity to meet the world’s rapidly growing threats.”
From the right: Media’s New Russiagate Dodge
“Democrats and commentators reacted dismissively” to Special Counsel John Durham’s final report on Russiagate, notes the Washington Examiner’s Sarah Westwood, mostly “citing a 2019 inquiry to claim the matter had already been settled.” But that Inspector General report “found the FBI acted improperly on numerous occasions, on multiple levels, and potentially as a result of political bias while conducting the Russia investigation.” It also uncovered “extensive misconduct and even illegal activity.” And it “made no effort to look into whether the FBI had any facts to back up the allegations that sparked the Russia investigation.” That is, the 2019 IG probe and Durham’s both “paint a picture of an FBI operating outside the rules in pursuit of Trump,” despite the media “narrative of the two watchdogs being at odds.”
Conservative: Durham’s Damning Discovery
“The answer is not the creation of new rules but a renewed fidelity to the old,” which “comes down to the integrity of the people who take an oath to follow the guidelines,” Special Counsel John Durham concluded. The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland’s translation: We need “a curing of the corrupted hearts and minds of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.” She warns: “What should terrify the country is not the catalog of malfeasance the special counsel recited — for mistakes and even gross failures can be corrected — but that Durham warned of corrupted hearts and minds, unfaithful to the people and their Constitution” at Justice and FBI. “For the many details that followed — every misstep retraced and every inexplicable and unreasonable action condemned — that conclusion dwarfed them all.”
Aviation beat: Air Safety Trumps Politics
The tragic crash of Colgan Flight 3407 in February 2009 “was a turning point in American aviation history,” argue NY Reps. Brian Higgins (D), Nick Langworthy (R), Joe Morelle (D) & Claudia Tenney (R) at The Hill. It led Congress to enact “major flight safety reforms,” such as “the ‘1,500 Hour Rule’ which requires first officers, also known as co-pilots, to have a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight training time.” The airlines now argue that “the 1,500-hour rule is causing a pilot shortage” and are seeking “to roll back training and safety regulations.” Safety should not be compromised to “appease the bottom lines of airlines,” especially given that “the 1,500-hour rule has played a critical role in maintaining the safest period in American aviation history.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
This story originally appeared on NYPost
