The dawn of a new era: Opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence

Every single day, the connected world creates 44 exabytes of new data—an amount equal to three million Libraries of Congress—that can be collected, stored, and analyzed. At the same time, artificial intelligence is being applied in new ways that are expected to transform virtually every sector. AI is transforming everything from finance, retail, and healthcare to national security and criminal justice.

These rapid advances in technology and data analytics are having far-reaching consequences for jobs, the economy, society, and governance. In this situation, it is vital to think about the policy, legal, and ethical implications of the coming “digitalization of everything”. In addition, we need to understand the opportunities that are present as well as the challenges we face.

On June 12, Governance Studies at Brookings hosted a half-day forum to look at the issues raised by AI and data analytics. As part of the ninth annual A. Alfred Taubman Forum on Public Policy, several panels of experts examined the promise and the potential consequences of these technological advancements—and what is the best path forward in order to gain the benefits of these developments.

After the session, panelists took audience questions. This event was webcast.