At the top of a winding staircase, in a multipurpose hall, 75 New Yorkers of many political stripes, from MAGA conservatives to progressive environmentalists, gathered Tuesday night to share their worries about concentrated wealth and power steering today’s rapid AI development.
“Artificial intelligence is not a problem of the future. It is a source of power right now, to do great good and great harm,” declared Jeremy Ornstein, one of the organizers, at the opening of the meeting. “Billionaires stake their claim to AI and say it shouldn’t be under public control, and tyrants stake their claim to AI and deny our basic liberties.”
“But there’s another opportunity here. We the people, whoever we are, can lay claim to this technology,” Ornstein said, “and carve out a way to protect people.” “That’s our movement,” he said.
The event, held at St. Michael’s Church in Manhattan and advertised online, was the latest in a series of nationwide events held by Humans First, which aims to become a grassroots movement that gives voice to the growing number of Americans wary of the fast-moving AI industry. Its current flagship campaign focuses on getting politicians to reject financial offers from major AI companies and their venture capital backers.
The group’s pitch — that AI should be subject to more democratic control and less “big money” influence — is already clashing with a broader, increasingly ideological fight over AI regulation. That conflict surfaced online this week when White House AI czar and venture capitalist David Sachs shared a critical essay on Humans First, and Elon Musk echoed it, saying the new group, which hosts small gatherings, could also become a new front in the battle for AI power.
Humans First calls itself nonpartisan and has members who are staunchly progressive and conservative activists: Ornstein was a leading organizer on climate change issues as part of the anti-Trump Sunrise Movement from 2018-2022. Alexander McCoy, leader of the left-wing Coalition for Humans First, is a former ocean and climate advocate who helped organize events during Kamala Harris’ presidential run.
Amy Kremer, director of conservative coalitions for Humans First, previously co-founded Women for Trump and led grassroots organizing for the Republican National Committee, while Humans First senior fellow Joe Allen has reported on AI for his “War Room” podcast with conservative firebrand Steve Bannon.
Tuesday’s event drew attendees from diverse backgrounds, including engineers from AI companies, worries about how technology will replace human creativity and neighbors curious about whether electricity prices will rise as a result of data center expansion. Play” posted over 21 million views. Elon Musk shared Sax’s post early Wednesday morning, calling it “disturbing.”
Musk is the founder and CEO of xAI, which is racing to develop advanced AI systems that are smarter or more efficient than humans.
The long-form article shared by Sacks was written by conservative writer Jordan Schachtel. The article stated that Humans First was founded to attract conservative supporters from people with a strong link to effective altruism, a social movement that aims to support causes and allocate resources based on evidence of positive impact. Many effective philanthropists are skeptical of today’s pace of AI development and have long called for regulation to guide it.
While trying to appeal to conservatives, the effective altruism movement and a subset of members focused on AI safety efforts “have a structural problem when it comes to conservative America. Its donor class is all Bay Area progressives. Its major organizations are institutionally tied to the Big Tech Left,” Schachtel wrote.
As a result, members of the influential altruistic organization, the Center for AI Safety, founded Humans First, a Trojan horse of sorts to make AI safety issues more palatable to a conservative political audience. Project leaders specifically targeted Allen, Bannon allies to bolster its conservative credentials, Schachtel said.
Allen vociferously rejected accusations that he was unwittingly recruited to the effort, instead saying Schachtel’s post “raises questions about shadowy influence operations” for his disbelief that progressives and conservatives can unite on a topic like AI.
“I was not headhunted and arrested,” Allen told NBC News. “I’ve been at this for years. People who count know what I am. Any attempt to stop me or tell me what to say will fail.”
Rejecting the notion that the Center for AI Safety has been influenced by the effective altruism movement, along with conservative activists Secretly Humans First Seed, X wrote Wednesday night that “the less influence (effective altruism) has on AI safety, the better.”
Ornstein told NBC News that Humans First was incubated by the Center for AI Safety and received an initial loan that will be repaid after the group collects donations from individuals concerned about developing safe and beneficial AI.
“We are growing into a cross-partisan and nonpartisan movement that unites and pulls together politicians across the political spectrum to confront big AI money in politics, hold big AI companies accountable, and put more of the benefits and control of AI in the hands of the public,” Ornstein said.
“We’re here to make noise and shake the cage,” said Alexander McCoy, leader of Human First’s liberal wing, as he sat on stage on the second floor of the church annex Tuesday night. McCoy emphasized that the desire to integrate more democratic oversight over the growth and development of artificial intelligence should unite people of all political persuasions who disagree with each other.
“I’ve had conversations with people whose politics I don’t share. But let’s fight on other issues that aren’t Skynet’s tyranny,” McCoy said, referring to the malevolent AI network in the “Terminator” movies.
After McCoy closed his comments and the official presentation concluded, the audience mingled for another hour as he animatedly discussed the most pressing AI issues.
Victoria Flack, a middle school teacher who advises people part-time on how to incorporate AI tools into their work, says she thinks AI deserves more discussion and debate beyond Silicon Valley boardrooms.
“I’m torn because AI has taught me a lot in my personal life and business life and put money in my pocket over the last three years,” he said at the event, “but at the same time, I see the risks.”
