What happened and why it matters
On Friday, Frances Haugen urged artificial intelligence firms to live up to the intent of a newly inked White House agreement to self-police. Her call came shortly after Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and a group of other CEOs put their signatures on the voluntary commitments. Haugen's message was simple: pledges are only as good as how companies behave when the rules are flexible.
Spirit versus letter of the rules
"The history of tech companies engaging with regulation is: Often they will follow the exact written statement when we are dealing with very flexible systems," Haugen told CNBC's "Squawk Box." She asked whether companies will uphold the "spirit of the rules," or instead look for what is not explicitly banned and "go around the end of the fence."
Haugen's track record and what is coming
Haugen, who previously served as a product manager on Facebook's team focused on civic misinformation, provided internal files to the Wall Street Journal in 2021 that became "The Facebook Files." Among the revelations: some documents indicated the company knew its platforms negatively affected teens' mental health. That saga is now the focus of Aaron Sorkin's new film, "The Social Reckoning," slated for release on Oct. 9. Haugen has also chronicled her experience in her book, "The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook."
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The AI safety push today
With worries about AI risks getting louder in recent weeks, Haugen said the current crop of AI firms has been "more proactive" about safety than in the past. She pointed to Anthropic and its CEO, Dario Amodei, for advocating independent auditors. "I think that is an acknowledgement that, that at least at least Dario knows that that if you're given the space to cut corners, even the angels among us begin to cut corners," she said. For anyone watching the space, the takeaway is straightforward: pay attention to who invites outside scrutiny and who sticks to checkbox compliance.
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