Catalyzed by the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022, policymakers worldwide have launched a surge of activity surrounding artificial intelligence (AI). The legal and policy frameworks resulting from this concentrated period of attention may shape AI governance for decades to come. This keynote will examine the implications of these global AI policy debates for computing educators and their students.

Drawing on the speaker’s dual experience as a computing educator and AI policy adviser within the United States Senate, this presentation will explore the developing threads of AI policy that educators should integrate into their curricula to prepare students for an evolving socio-technical landscape.

The talk will present an overview of significant AI policy developments, including the European Union’s AI Act, the over 120 AI-related bills currently pending in the United States Congress, and the United Arab Emirates’ launch of a state-of-the-art open-source AI model. These examples will be contextualized within the history of how the current active regulatory stance diverges from prior approaches to technologies like the internet and social media, and consider the potential implications of this shift.

Equally important to understanding how AI policy is evolving is understanding why. Many legislative efforts are driven by concerns about AI’s potential to exacerbate societal harms, such as election misinformation, cybersecurity threats, nonconsensual sexual imagery, weapons development, data privacy violations, intellectual property appropriation, labor market disruptions, and algorithmic biases. Coupled with these concerns is a widespread skepticism toward the tech industry’s capacity for responsible self-governance. This context underscores the need for computing educators to engage students on issues of policy, ethics, and justice throughout the curriculum, to cultivate future professionals who can earn public trust and who appreciate the role of governments in establishing balance between innovation and safety guardrails.

Finally, the talk will offer reflections on the experience of serving as a technical adviser to policymakers, and advocate for computing educators to consider public service engagement on AI policy as a compelling career trajectory for themselves and their students.

Cynthia Bailey is a Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University. In 2023-2024, she worked as an AI Policy Fellow in the United States Senate, through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Her scholarship focuses on computer science education, broadening participation in computing, AI/machine learning, and social impacts of technology. This work includes creating the groundbreaking course, Race and Gender in Silicon Valley. Her teaching awards include the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for exceptional contributions to undergraduate education at Stanford, a “Top 10 Papers of All Time” award at the 50th anniversary of the ACM SIGCSE technical symposium, and the Stanford Society of Women Engineers’ Professor of the Year. Her previous work experience includes consulting for Apple, NASA, and machine learning startups. She has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC San Diego.