Trump's recent AI-related executive ordersPreventing Woke AI in the Federal Government Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure |
Donald Trump earlier this week signed three new executive orders (see sidebar) while pledging that his administration will do "whatever it takes" to lead all nations in AI development and market dominance.
Trump criticized Joe Biden's administration for "weaponizing" AI. Among the EOs signed by Trump, who gained fame in business before politics, are announced rollbacks of excessive regulation that he says is stifling to "American genius."
Senior administration officials on Wednesday held a conference call with media to outline the Trump plan. It includes three major bullet points of focus: American workers, free speech and protection of U.S.-built technologies.
"If you regulate (AI) too much, you kill the source of American genius and technological power," Trump said. "I believe that Joe Biden had a plan to lose the AI race. I think he wanted to lose it."
But the focus of Trump's winning AI plan makes no mention of protection of the family, warned Travis Weber, a vice president with Family Research Council, on Washington Watch Thursday.
Infrastructure prioritized over family?
This omission comes in the wake of a late provision added to the One Big Beautiful Bill, one of Republicans' most significant legislative victories during Trump's second term, which the president signed on Independence Day.
The provision mandates that state and local governments cannot enforce any law or regulation related to AI systems for 10 years. It stands to impact the healthcare AI laws that have been passed in California, Colorado and a smattering of other states in recent years.
The AI provision in the reconciliation bill would immediately halt state AI laws in their tracks. Some states have moved to regulate AI because Congress had not passed any significant AI legislation to date for healthcare, reports Fierce, a healthcare news outlet.
Randi Siegal, partner at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, said the decade-long ban could signal that Congress intends to legislate.
Industry technology advocates have praised the enforcement ban, citing its benefits for small businesses. But "threats from AI will impact the family," Weber told show host Tony Perkins.
The Trump plan, Weber explained, is "very focused on innovation, technology, the way ahead, competing with China, but the plan is devoid of recognizing the threats to children. It does not define human flourishing in the context of family and relational flourishing. So, we have to point these things out and call our nation's attention to address them."
The Church must stand and speak on this issue, he added.
The administration recognizes that the rise of AI will result in fewer jobs. In response it promises to incentivize job creation, but the new jobs are pointing back to AI.
It's not biblical, Weber says. "It's all about supporting this giant AI infrastructure they want to build," he warns.
That causes the FRC spokesman to pose this question: "Is the dignity of work that God has outlined in Genesis not going to be about cultivating the creation that he has put us in but rather supporting a giant machine infrastructure? We have to at least raise these questions."
Free speech is important, but the slope is slippery
Weber applauded the administration's emphasis on free speech but suggested that settled law over a 10-year period creates unsettling challenges as democracy shuttles new leaders in and out of Washington, DC.
"We want free speech at some level, that's understandable; we don't want biased systems. But what happens when we build a giant, powerful government apparatus, and another actor comes into government who does not respect free speech? We've seen that in recent years."
U.S. leaders, both federal and state, also need to recognize that not all developed nations will approach the AI frontier with pure intentions. China, for example, is actively working on AI-powered humanoid robots that exhibit increasingly human-like qualities and independence.
Pro-family groups are concerned about potential moral, social and psychological impacts on families and children. Weber is concerned that AI systems designed to give advice would be left to dispense their own moral reasoning, potentially displacing the role of parents and faith leaders.
"We recognize the threat of China, but we have to recognize our nation needs God. It needs the Word to be applied to our public life," Weber said.
