Ask not what AI can do for you

Just about 250 years ago, young Americans risked everything to fight for a better future--one in which their loved ones, neighbors, and progeny could exercise individual liberty and collective prosperity. Their fight for democracy was regarded by many as a fool’s errand. People aren’t to be trusted. Only the enlightened should govern. Top-down, tyrannical approaches to governance were the only path forward.

But the American people rallied behind an optimistic vision and refused to accept the status quo. Where’s that spirit of liberty and commitment to building a better future today? It’s fitting that as the nation celebrates an important anniversary, we’re once again in a position that demands a new generation of founders. Young Americans today are in that rare historical position of having the opportunity and means to redesign tired systems, expand the scope of individual autonomy, and drive economic prosperity. AI and related emerging technologies have made change inevitable. The only question is who will drive that change and in which directions.

AI is an imperfect tool, yet it is the greatest disseminator and generator of knowledge that humankind has ever created. Its most boring use cases — consolidating information, distilling patterns, spotting errors, and generating novel ideas — have transformative potential when deployed in proper contexts. These AI use cases have already increased human flourishing. Hospitals have reported that doctors equipped with AI have cut down on charting time—spending more time with patients and improving care. Schools have documented AI tutors accelerating literacy gains as the nation still recovers from the immense learning losses incurred during the pandemic. New startups are opening the garage doors and looking for new employees to help create the next big thing.

These AI stories rarely make headline news. If sex sells, then pessimism profits. Diffused benefits such as marginal, yet meaningful improvements to the basics of a good life don’t make for clickbait. Instead, AI coverage by the New York Times, for example, tends to suggest that acceptance and adoption of AI is the surest path to a dark future. Here are a few recent headlines: “The A.I. Disruption We've Been Waiting for Has Arrived,” “A.I. Isn’t Coming for Every White-Collar Job. At Least Not Yet.,” “People Loved the Dot-Com Boom. The A.I. Boom, Not So Much.”

It’s no wonder that many Americans have developed a fear of AI. Supposedly trustworthy and objective sources of news are unquestionably adding a subjective, doom-based lens to their AI coverage. Such framing robs people of their autonomy and agency. Regardless of the substantive content of those articles, it’s no secret that many of us are headline-readers—plenty of people share articles online without ever reading more than the first paragraph. The framing of the story can be its most consequential contribution to popular discourse. By tipping the scales away from reasoned analysis of AI’s pros and cons, such coverage turns the American people into passive actors in an era that will be won by people with a high degree of agency, curiosity, and grit.

Thankfully, young people have a new means to escape the predominant anti-tech narrative. The Peace Corps has officially launched the US Tech Corps. Here’s a summary of the new program: The Tech Corps deploys technologists to support last-mile adoption of American AI. The Tech Corps leverages the Peace Corps' existing infrastructure while turbocharging the Peace Corps' historic mission of promoting world peace and friendship by working with communities in host nations to meet their needs for trained individuals. The Tech Corps creates a new pathway for service-minded technologists to serve in the Peace Corps and support AI adoption across sectors such as health, education, and agriculture.

This is a chance to receive practical AI training, to put that training to productive use, and to increase adoption of a tool that is wonderfully boring in the vast majority of its use cases, yet incredibly capable. The first set of US Tech Corps volunteers will require the same fierce commitment to optimism, risk-taking, and building that defined our nation’s founders. These volunteers will return with proven AI experience that can spark necessary changes at home. What an incredible opportunity. Ask not what AI can do for you – ask how you can use AI to benefit humanity. That’s the opportunity that’s on the table for young Americans today. Will you seize it?