She has been covering AI for 10 years after a career that began as a research scientist, and now Madhumita Murgia tells the stories of how marginalized people have been affected by technology in her new book, Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI.
Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad and Varun Krovi, the Center for AI Safety (CAIS) Action Fund’s director of government relations and public policy, welcomed Murgia, the Financial Times’ first artificial intelligence editor, and a room full of AI innovators, policy leaders and media at The House at 1229. Her book was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction and named one of Publishers Weekly’s top 10 spring political books.
During the breakfast conversation, Murgia argued that tech companies cannot be the sole voices governing AI due to their profit motives, advocating the inclusion of diverse perspectives from other sectors to ensure responsible AI development benefiting society.
“If it’s going to change healthcare, education, help invent new materials and solve climate change,” Murgia said, “we need those people in the room. Those who understand healthcare policy, social work, education policy — not just technologists proposing ideas like ‘wouldn’t it be great if chatbots could read your children bedtime stories every night?’ No, that’s not the future I was imagining.”
Murgia also emphasized the value of public discourse around AI to foster trust and understanding. She cites the example of clearly labeling AI outputs, noting “Just a simple thing, just tell me if this is AI or human. It makes such a huge difference in how people relate to things…that undermining and trust issue is resolved.”
The intimate breakfast was attended by leaders from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, including Bert Kaufman and Nick Schmit, senior advisors to the secretary of Commerce, NIST chief AI advisor Elham Tabassi, White House press assistant Chris Russo, Senator Brian Schatz’s chief of staff Reema Dodin, Senator Mitt Romney’s chief of staff Liz Johnson, Senator Mark Warner’s chief of staff Elizabeth Falcone, NobleReach Foundation senior VP for marketing and communications Tina Anthony, SCSP senior director of communications and public affairs Tara Rigler, GlobalWIN founder Helen Milby, Aspen Strategy Group director Niamh King, the Embassy of Germany’s senior advisor for digital policy Julian Ramirez, and Helen Toner, director of strategy and foundational research grants at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET).
