The Most Important Words in the Battle Over AI

The term 'AI safety' has become a flashpoint in the debate over AI regulation, with different factions interpreting it to mean vastly different things, from existential risk mitigation to immediate harms like bias and misinformation.

In the battle over AI regulation — from Washington, D.C. to Silicon Valley — one term has become unexpectedly controversial: “AI safety.” After all, who doesn’t believe in making these tools safe? But depending on where people stand on the issue, “AI safety” has come to signal wildly different things. Some are concerned about existential …