Axios HQ Reception in San Francisco – Building Trust in Tech: Leaders’ Role in an AI Future

On Wednesday, June 7, Axios HQ and Edelman hosted a reception event in San Francisco convening thought leaders in tech and business to discuss how organizations can build stakeholder trust in technology while addressing concerns about generative AI. A View from the Top sponsored conversation featured Axios publisher Nicholas Johnston and Edelman Bay Area Hub general manager Jordan Rittenberry.

Jordan Rittenberry discussed ways to build trust in the tech sector in the face of uncertainty about new technologies like AI and emphasized how businesses can enact policies around the responsible use of AI in response to concerns about its risks.

• On ways to build trust in the technology sector: “First and foremost, I think we need to act fast and really need to show that technology can solve some of society’s greatest challenges, things like climate, things like disinformation, of course. And transparency, secondarily, is going to be key to all of that. I think we have to make sure that everything we do has that lens of transparency to it, and that we’re not going back on that. And then we have to address the policy bit. The CEO of OpenAI even said a couple of weeks ago that he welcomes policy…and I think he genuinely means it.”
• On proactive corporate responses to AI: “I think we definitely have to be aware of the risk when it comes to AI, we have to be cognizant of that, and we have to make sure we’re mitigating all of those risks, absolutely. I think we also need to take a moment and balance the fact that this is such a new technology, and balance the hype with where we are, it’s still in its infancy, ChatGPT launched in November. It’s barely eight months old. So I do think as businesses, in order to connect before we reach this apocalypse, we have to really look at internal policies and procedures and we have to put those in place before it’s too late.”

Thank you to Edelman for sponsoring this event.