Agenda-Setting Dynamics in U.S. AI Policy

Daniel S. Schiff will present the talk “Looking Through a Policy Window with Tinted Glasses: Agenda-Setting Dynamics in U.S. AI Policy” as part of the WMU Ethics Center's Spring 2024 lecture series. Dr. Schiff is assistant professor of technology policy at Purdue University’s Department of Political Science and co-director of the Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL),

The policy agenda is currently being established for artificial intelligence (AI), a domain marked by complex and sweeping implications for economic transformation tempered by concerns about social and ethical risks. This article reviews U.S. national AI policy strategy through extensive qualitative and quantitative content analysis of 63 strategic AI policy documents curated by the federal government between 2016 and 2020, drawing on a prominent theory of agenda setting: the Multiple Streams Framework.

Findings indicate minimal attention to focusing events or problem indicators emphasizing social and ethical concerns, as opposed to economic and geopolitical ones. Overall, although the emerging U.S. AI policy agenda reflects a striking level of attention to ethics—a promising development for policy stakeholders invested in AI ethics and more socially oriented approaches to technology governance—this success is only partial and is ultimately layered into a traditional strategic approach to innovation policy.

This talk is co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, WMUx, Department of Political Science, and Communication and Social Robotics Labs. For more information, visit the Ethics Center's website.