Biden Signs Executive Order, Critics Fear “Moral Hazard”

Biden Signs Executive Order, Critics Fear

(RepublicanJournal.org) – One of the many jobs of a US President is to sign executive orders (EOs) as they feel they are needed. These papers help the leader specify how the federal government should be run, but they cannot contradict existing laws or usurp powers from the other branches. Recent presidents have begun using these official documents more often as they try to steer the course of the nation. President Joe Biden’s latest is causing quite the controversy as it welcomes artificial intelligence into the government.

Biden Signs EO to Advance Racial Equity

On Thursday, February 16, POTUS signed an EO to advance racial equity by supporting underserved groups in America, which include ethnic and religious minorities, females, people with disabilities, citizens who live in rural places, and those unable to break the cycle of poverty. Within the directive, Biden outlined that artificial intelligence in the federal government should only be used “in a manner that advances equity.”

Critics of the new order emphasized that this new attempt to establish equity will add racial ideology into the government. Manhattan Institute fellow Colin Wright equated the move to “ideological and social cancer.”

The debate over this order centers around the difference between equality, where everyone is allowed the same opportunities regardless of their religion, ethnicity, or status, and equity, where certain groups are given additional resources or opportunities in an attempt to make them equal with others.

EO Comes as AI Goes Mainstream

Many Americans are increasingly concerned about this introduction of equitable artificial intelligence into the government because they have seen what this software does already. AI, such as the new ChatGPT search bot, while described as unbiased, often appears to have left-leaning ideologies.

Zach Vorhies, who worked for Google before he began to blow the metaphorical whistle on the company’s AI systems, told EpochTV that by building “an AI that’s got social justice values… you’re going to only feed it information that confirms that bias.” He believes that by attempting to root out racism and inequality, people might actually be creating it within these computers, which some people believe are actually starting to think for themselves.

Pushing a “Woke” Agenda?

The new EO also asks federal agencies to look for “emerging threats” against civil rights, “such as algorithmic discrimination in automated technology.” Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Jeremy Carl pointed out how this could push the federal government to target companies that aren’t fully “woke” to change their software or face penalties.

Technology is here to stay at this point, and as the world continues to develop new advances, the laws around them will also be built. In this new era, Americans must figure out the best way to face the challenges that come with these developments, such as artificial intelligence, while preserving the freedoms the Constitution promises without hampering the country’s many innovations.

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