Gov. Hochul establishes New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is establishing a first-in-the-nation AI research center to police tech companies rather than allowing them to police themselves.
Hochul is taking a firm step to establish guardrails for AI tech companies. It's something she wished lawmakers in Washington had done.
She's creating a new research center at SUNY Binghamton, where 80 researchers will use their academic expertise to independently test AI systems for safety and security. It's called the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research.
"Shame on us if we're not smart enough to see the threats that are right before us and know it's in the financial interest of companies to slow down when they're racing in a very competitive global race," Hochul said. "I have to be the one that can look at a parent in the eye and say, no, I'm doing whatever I can to protect your child and I'm going to protect our economy."
Researchers at the center will examine whether AI systems are safe and secure, can be manipulated, can produce dangerous results or can compromise privacy, to name just a few of the goals.
Cristin Frodella is a member of Common Sense Media's New York parent advisory board. Her goal is to keep kids safe in a digital world.
"The risks aren't just the ones that a mom sees at a kitchen table, things like a kid handing her homework to a chatbot, or taking advice from one that might lead her astray. They're the ones none of us can see yet ë systems so capable that even the people who build them can't fully predict what they'll do," Frodella said.
Greg Morrisett of Cornell Tech is a co-chair of the new research center.
"This center gives us an opportunity to work on really hard problems, like how do we adapt best practices, such as formal methods to prevent agents from escaping their sandboxes? Or how do we understand new classes of attacks and failures and the defenses that we need to develop?" Morrisett said.
Hochul has not shied away from taking on tech companies. She has said in the coming months she's going to explore even more ways to strengthen New York's AI safety laws.
