Author/s: Gordon LaForge, Allison Stanger, Sarah Myers West, Bruce Schneier, Stephanie Forrest, and Nazli Choucri

This collaborative brief features perspectives from leading experts across international relations, computer science, and technology policy. Contributors include Gordon LaForge (New America senior policy analyst), Allison Stanger (Middlebury College professor and co-director of Harvard's GETTING-Plurality Research Network), Sarah Myers West (AI Now Institute managing director and former FTC senior advisor), Bruce Schneier (Harvard Kennedy School lecturer and renowned security technologist), Stephanie Forrest (Arizona State University professor and Santa Fe Institute external faculty), and Nazli Choucri (MIT professor of political science).

Summary

This March 2024 brief from New America assembles six expert perspectives following demonstrations of AI's explosive economic impact. Contributors argue that AI development reflects concentrated industry power, with a handful of firms controlling infrastructure, data, and research incentives through the "legacy of the surveillance business model." Bruce Schneier proposes an "AI public option" comparable to public roads, while Stephanie Forrest warns that AI governance failures echo 25 years of unaddressed digital disruptions. The brief emphasizes a critical gap: "while the capability of AI is exponentially increasing, the rate of policy development is not."