Announcing the AI Policy Forum

To the members of the MIT community,

We’re thrilled to write to you to introduce the inaugural AI Policy Forum, an Institute-wide initiative convened by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. Starting this fall, and over the course of the next 12 months, the AI Policy Forum will engage a broad set of stakeholders with the goal of moving the global conversation on AI policy from principles to implementation.

This yearlong process will commence with a series of task forces, each chaired by MIT researchers. Each will bring together leading technical, business, and policy experts from around the world to work on the most pressing issues of AI policy, starting with AI in finance and mobility in late 2020 and early 2021. Further task forces will run throughout 2021. Each task force will produce results that inform concrete public policies specific to a field of AI application. Collectively, these policies will contribute to the development of an overarching AI policy framework that can be applied by governments, corporations, and other actors. It’s an ambitious agenda, but an important one – and one we believe is achievable.

On May 6–7, 2021, MIT will host – most likely online – the first AI Policy Forum Summit, a two-day collaborative gathering with high-level decision makers. Summit sessions will offer attendees a deeper understanding of the policy tools at their disposal. A follow-on event, hopefully in person, will take place at MIT in fall 2021 to conclude the yearlong effort.

MIT’s contributions to global AI policy will benefit from broad engagement of faculty, researchers, and students in the forum. We also expect that the engagement with government, industry, and civil society from around the world will enrich MIT’s research and education in this important aspect of the college’s mission.

We will share more on how you can engage as planning for the AI Policy Forum progresses.

In the meantime, to learn more about what we’re planning, read the MIT News article or email aipolicyforum@mit.edu.

Sincerely,

Martin A. Schmidt
Provost

Daniel Huttenlocher
Dean, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing