[Link] White House announces a series of workshops on AI, expresses interest in safety

I think despite all the moderate phrasing the threat is already seen somewhat and coordination is starting to address it. I think this is what is hidden behind this:

A new National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will meet for the first time next week. This group will monitor state-of-the-art advances and technology milestones in artificial intelligence and machine learning within the Federal Government, in the private sector, and internationally; and help coordinate Federal activity in this space.

It's hard to tell if this is good or bad. They don't say anything about extinction risks. This could be because they've recognized the possibility of extinction and talking about it is just politically unfashionable, or it could be because they don't consider that a credible concern, in which case, one possibility is, this would be good in the short term but would probably lure people into a false sense of security in the long term, unless things change more.

It is pretty exciting. :)

I only recently learned about the Brain Initiative (USA) and the Human Brain Project (European Union). As I understand it, both were started in 2013. First the Brain Initiative, and then the European Union responded with the Human Brain Project. Anyone knows what kind of developments have accrued from them so far?

I wonder at the timing of this article and upcoming workshops.

I'm not deep in the AI community... did something happen recently to spark greater interest and preparation for AI? Any big news story I somehow missed?

Maybe the topic's been on the backburner at the White House and they're only just getting it started now; regardless, it sounds promising.

A sign!