Amba Kak develops policy recommendations to tackle AI concerns

To give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, we are launching a series of interviews focusing on remarkable women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution. We’ll publish several pieces throughout the year as the AI boom continues, highlighting key work that often goes unrecognized. Read more profiles here.

Amba Kak serves as the executive director of the AI Now Institute, where she plays a pivotal role in crafting policy recommendations to address AI concerns. With prior experience as a senior AI advisor at the Federal Trade Commission, as well as holding positions as a global policy advisor at Mozilla and a legal advisor to India’s telecom regulator on net neutrality, Kak brings a wealth of expertise to her endeavors.

Briefly, how did you get your start in AI? What attracted you to the field?

The question isn’t straightforward because “AI” has become a trendy term to describe practices and systems that have been evolving for quite some time now. I’ve been immersed in technology policy for over a decade, working across various regions of the world, and I’ve witnessed shifts from the era of “big data” to the current focus on “AI.” However, the fundamental issues we grapple with — the societal impacts of data-driven technologies and economies — remain consistent.

My interest in these questions dates back to my time in law school in India, where amidst a backdrop of long-standing legal precedents, I found it invigorating to delve into an area where the normative questions about the kind of world we envision and the role of technology within it remained open to debate. Globally, the discourse revolved around whether the internet could be effectively regulated at the national level (a question that seems obvious in hindsight) while in India, intense debates centered on the potential risks posed by a biometric ID database encompassing the entire population.

In the face of narratives promoting the inevitability of AI and technology, I believe that regulation and advocacy wield significant power in shaping the trajectory of technology to serve public interests rather than merely bolstering corporate bottom lines or serving the interests of established power structures. However, I’ve also come to recognize over the years that regulation can often be co-opted by these same interests, perpetuating the status quo rather than challenging it. Hence, the ongoing work lies in navigating this complex landscape and striving to ensure that regulation and advocacy truly serve the broader public good.