Sen. Mark Kelly isn't worried about the Terminator. He's focused on creating jobs
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U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly isn’t worried about the Terminator.
Despite concerns from tech executives and engineers over risks of unchecked expansion of artificial intelligence, Kelly has been working to set up a new semiconductor manufacturing plant, promising thousands of jobs to blue-collar workers in Arizona.
The chips promised by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company at its site in north Phoenix are essential to nearly all aspects of modern life, and Kelly considers the production facility an economic boost and a matter of protection against Chinese aggression.
“This is a $40 billion investment from a foreign company that’s going to produce tens of thousands of good-paying jobs,” Kelly said, speaking to The Arizona Republic’s editorial board.
“And that $40 billion number is likely going to grow. Add on top of that all the suppliers that are going to come here and then later all the customers that are going to come to the state of Arizona. This is a big win for Arizona families and consumers. It’s a big win for our national security.”
Mark Kelly doesn't fear this technology
He’s heard the concerns over so-called “artificial intelligence” technology associated with semiconductor chips, everything from economic collapse to mass extinction.
Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and the only member of the Senate with an advanced engineering degree, says this is no time for fear.
“I flew the space shuttle four times,” he said. “I’m used to new technology. … I’m not in the camp of a person that, right now, is worrying about some software program, and that’s all this stuff is.
“It’s AI, you know? A program. It’s a machine-learning program and that can provide a lot of artificial creativity to a project you’re working on. I don’t have concerns about this stuff becoming sentient.”
How do we harness AI to do good?
The senator and I disagree here.
For me, if Geoffrey Hinton, the “godfather of AI,” has resigned from Google, saying he regrets his role in developing the technology, and the Center for AI Safety calls machine learning a risk on par with nuclear war, then I think we should be thinking about limits and guardrails as much as we think about expansion.
It’s a lot deeper than a high school kid using Chat GPT to do his homework or some scammer using a computer in a virtual kidnapping spoof.
It’s more about making sure we treat AI the way we treat fire: It’s good if we control it to heat our homes; it’s bad if we let it burn our houses down.
At the moment, my primary concerns are economic. Call me a neo-Luddite if you like, but I don’t want to see computers taking human jobs without establishing replacement opportunities for displaced workers, which we’ve seen happen before.
Can the CHIPS Act spread this message?
For that, Kelly is going to deliver the inspiration needed to support his CHIPS and Science Act legislation and TSMC negotiation.
He’ll need to craft a message that resonates with everyday people to the point that public educators have what they need to prioritize STEM education to make sure these jobs go to the people of Arizona, rather than workers imported from out of state.
He can’t say, “I’m a senator. That’s a local problem.”
He needs to work up the chain of command to President Joe Biden to make sure that Democrats have a clear message so everyday people know what’s at stake and believe that Democrats have the right plan.
It’s simple enough:
We need good jobs.
This tech investment provides them.
We need a labor force that’s ready to support the industry.
That can’t happen without local involvement.
Here’s our plan and what we need from you.
If semiconductors are this essential, convince us
Frankly, Kelly should call former President Barack Obama to help craft and deliver the message. Inspiration is his specialty.
This is the kind of thing Democrats need in election season. Consider it an opportunity for Biden or Kamala Harris to deliver a “chicken in every pot and a semiconductor on every plate” speech.
It needs to be something that galvanizes the Democratic base into action.
Biden’s strategy of “I’m not Trump” worked last time, but we’ve seen that plan fail, including here in Arizona where Tom Horne defeated Kathy Hoffman by exciting conservative voters to fight his “critical race theory” boogeyman.
If semiconductor production is as important to our economy and national security as Kelly says, then he’s got to convince the people, or it’ll never work.
Mark Kelly isn’t scared of the Terminator, which is good.
It seems like this is no time for fear. There’s entirely too much at stake.
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sen. Mark Kelly isn't worried about AI. He's busy creating jobs
