A survey of 213 computer science professors from prestigious U.S. universities suggests that a plurality of experts believe the United States should establish a new federal agency dedicated to AI governance.




A recent survey conducted by Axios, Generation Lab, and Syracuse University polled 213 computer science professors from 65 prestigious universities in the United States on various topics related to artificial intelligence (AI). One of the notable findings from the survey is that a plurality of these experts believe the U.S. should create a new federal agency dedicated to AI governance.


When asked about the best entity to regulate AI, 37% of respondents suggested the creation of a new "Department of AI" government agency. This was the most popular response. Additionally, 22% of respondents favored regulation by a global organization or treaty. Only 16% of experts chose "Congress" as the best entity for AI regulation, while 2% more respondents opted for "AI cannot be regulated." The remaining 10% of respondents split their answers among the White House (4%), the private sector (3%), and "AI should not be regulated" (3%).


The survey also explored the experts' opinions on the future of employment in the AI sector. Most respondents indicated that they would advise young people to pursue careers in AI, engineering, and data science. Conversely, 31% advised against careers in media, and 19% discouraged careers in the arts. The majority (42%) chose "None of the above" when asked which fields young people should avoid.


Regarding control over AI, respondents were divided on whether there's a point in the evolution of AI after which humans cannot regain control. The answers included "no, probably not" (41%), "yes, probably" (35%), "no, definitely not" (19%), and "yes, definitely" (6%).


These survey results suggest that the views of computer science experts differ from those of the general public and business leaders when it comes to the potential impact of AI on employment and the need for AI regulation. While the public and business leaders often express concerns about rapid changes in the economic and employment landscape due to AI, the majority of computer science professors in this survey believe that AI will be capable of performing less than 20% of tasks currently done by humans at or above the human level.


(Tristan Greene, CoinTelegraph, 2023)