Shift AI Podcast

Developing an AI Social Contract with Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend

Jan 12, 2024

34:48

In this episode of Shift AI, Zach Friend Santa Cruz County Supervisor shares his journey from working in the Obama Whitehouse to helping the Biden Administration craft meaningful AI legislation with the local community in mind. He also covers the way that governments are dealing with AI regulation and the social contract that needs to be established with county constituents.

Show Description

This episode of the Shift AI podcast features an interview between Boaz Ashkenazy and Zach Friend about AI policy and regulation. They discuss Zach's background working in government at both the federal and local level. They also talk about the work Zach has done to develop an AI regulatory framework at the county level in California and discuss issues like innovation vs regulation, the use of AI tools like ChatGPT in government work, and concerns around personalization and microtargeting in the upcoming 2024 US election. It's an insightful conversation about how to properly govern emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

Highlights:

Zach Friend has experience working in government at both the federal level (White House, Congress) and local level (Santa Cruz County Supervisor)
He developed one of the first AI regulatory frameworks at the county level in California through a working group with industry
The framework focused on transparency, informed consent, and ensuring AI tools aren't used in ways that negatively impact communities
Zach discusses using ChatGPT and other AI tools to help with constituent services and operational tasks in county government
Personalized microtargeting of political messages is seen as a potential risk for the 2024 US election that needs addressing
Innovation and regulation can be balanced by having startups and industry help inform reasonable policy frameworks
Experiences working directly for President Obama shaped Zach's views on separating urgent vs important issues
The future could bring either abundance through new technologies or risks if we don't get policy and governance right

Connect with Zach Friend

Connect with Boaz Ashkenazy