Rep. Ro Khanna: Jobs Will Be the Focus of White House A.I. Summit
*By Alisha Haridisani*
Dozens of Silicon Valley executives are scheduled to descend on the White House for a summit meeting Thursday to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to strengthen the economy.
“I think the big question is ‘what are the new jobs going to look like?’” said Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California’s tech-heavy 17th district.
The summit, organized by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, will provide a forum for tech leaders and lawmakers to discuss how manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare can integrate A.I. without losing too many jobs and, hopefully, creating new ones.
A.I. is expected to automate at least 13 million jobs in the United States, according to a [paper](https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/2e2f4eea-en.pdf?expires=1525898765&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=0EC91AF21400A0A43F18E3466CB1449A) published by the international Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) earlier this year. The paper also predicted that the effect on America's workforce may be greater than the disruption caused by automation of the auto industry in the 1950s, which resulted in large job losses in some local economies.
“You’re not just going to solve that issue by tax cuts or corporate giveaways,” said Khanna. “You really need to prepare a workforce for the jobs of the future."
Michael Kratsios, the White House's deputy chief technology officer, recently [told The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/08/white-house-will-host-amazon-facebook-ford-and-other-major-companies-for-summit-on-ai/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.610bec66f6d7) the potential applications for A.I., robots and machine learning touched nearly every industry.
“Whether you’re a farmer in Iowa, an energy producer in Texas, a drug manufacturer in Boston, you are going to be using these techniques to drive your business going forward,” Kratsios was quoted by The Post.
Khanna said the potential far-reaching impact of new technology required the administration to come up with a detailed plan for preparing American workers. "I thought the president, who made his reputation on ‘The Apprentice,’ would announce a lot of apprenticeship and tech programs," he said.
Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and IBM are reportedly among the companies that will attend the meeting at the White House with academics and lawmakers.
After nearly a century, General Motors is no longer the top-selling automaker in America. Toyota has dethroned the long-reigning champ to become the leader in U.S. auto sales for the first time, and the first non-domestic automaker to take that title. The Japanese automaker outsold GM by about 114,000 vehicles, or 5% more, in 2021. Al Root, senior writer for Barron's, joined Cheddar to discuss the meaning behind these numbers.
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smart phones.
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Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a private-public fund backed by Bill Gates, is planning to invest up to $15 billion in clean technology initiatives across the U.S., UK, and European Union. It will target four key areas and help fund large projects that otherwise would not be financially possible. Bobby Hollis, Director of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
An economic development agency, the Northwest Arkansas Council, is looking to draw technology professionals to their region of the Southern state with incentives like $10,000 worth of Bitcoin and a new bicycle. Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the private nonprofit made up of companies like Walmart and Tyson Foods, joined Cheddar to talk about the program to further power his local economy. "By offering the payment in Bitcoin, we're looking to identify those people with interest and expertise in the underlying technologies, the blockchain technologies," he said.
