The Future of AI in America: A View from The White House with Dr. Lynne Parker
Dr. Lynne Parker is Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), and Director of the AI Tennessee Initiative, which aims to position the University and the state of Tennessee as a national and global leader in the data-intensive knowledge economy. Previously, she served as the Founding Director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and as Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States. Dr. Parker has held numerous other leadership positions, including at UTK (Interim Dean of the Tickle College of Engineering), the National Science Foundation (Division Director for Information and Intelligent Systems), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Distinguished R&D Staff Member and Group Leader). She is a Fellow of AAAI, AAAS, and IEEE, and is also a Distinguished Member of ACM. She received her PhD in computer science from MIT.
Dr. Lynne Parker is Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), and Director of the AI Tennessee Initiative, which aims to position the University and the state of Tennessee as a national and global leader in the data-intensive knowledge economy. Previously, she served as the Founding Director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and as Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States. Dr. Parker has held numerous other leadership positions, including at UTK (Interim Dean of the Tickle College of Engineering), the National Science Foundation (Division Director for Information and Intelligent Systems), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Distinguished R&D Staff Member and Group Leader). She is a Fellow of AAAI, AAAS, and IEEE, and is also a Distinguished Member of ACM. She received her PhD in computer science from MIT.
Michael is Managing Director at Scale AI, leading corporate strategy and helping accelerate AI applications across industries. Michael most recently served as the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the White House. As the President’s top technology advisor, Michael led National initiatives on AI, quantum computing, 5G, broadband, and autonomous systems. Michael previously served as Acting Under Secretary of Defense. As the third highest ranking official at the Department of Defense, Michael managed the largest research and development budget for a single organization in the world, supervising all research, engineering, development, and prototyping. Michael was named to Fortune’s “40 Under 40”, is a WEF Young Global Leader, and is a recipient of the DoD’s Distinguished Public Service Medal. Michael was unanimously confirmed by the U.S Senate and is the youngest Under Secretary of Defense in history. Michael’s writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, WIRED, Bloomberg, and Fortune. Prior to joining the White House, Michael was a Principal at Thiel Capital, where he invested in and advised technology companies. A South Carolina native, Michael graduated from Princeton University and served as a Visiting Scholar at Beijing’s Tsinghua University.
Michael is Managing Director at Scale AI, leading corporate strategy and helping accelerate AI applications across industries. Michael most recently served as the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the White House. As the President’s top technology advisor, Michael led National initiatives on AI, quantum computing, 5G, broadband, and autonomous systems. Michael previously served as Acting Under Secretary of Defense. As the third highest ranking official at the Department of Defense, Michael managed the largest research and development budget for a single organization in the world, supervising all research, engineering, development, and prototyping. Michael was named to Fortune’s “40 Under 40”, is a WEF Young Global Leader, and is a recipient of the DoD’s Distinguished Public Service Medal. Michael was unanimously confirmed by the U.S Senate and is the youngest Under Secretary of Defense in history. Michael’s writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, WIRED, Bloomberg, and Fortune. Prior to joining the White House, Michael was a Principal at Thiel Capital, where he invested in and advised technology companies. A South Carolina native, Michael graduated from Princeton University and served as a Visiting Scholar at Beijing’s Tsinghua University.
Dr. Lynne Parker previously served as the Founding Director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office in the White House and coordinated AI policy across three different presidential administrations. She is currently the Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Director of The AI Tennessee Initiative. She is joined in this fireside chat by Michael Kratsios, Formerly The 4th Chief Technology Officer of the United States and currently Managing Director at Scale.
Dr. Parker explores concrete actions the federal government needs to take to accelerate the use of AI throughout the federal arena. These include better approaches to policy, investing in research and development, setting up programs for attracting AI talent to the government, and engaging across national and international borders. Dr. Parker also talks about a risk-based methodology for defining better policy for the responsible use of AI, referencing the NIST National AI Initiative Act as a good model for this approach. Finally, she lays out practical use cases where AI can make the government more efficient and effective, including reducing the burden of the vast amount of paperwork, combating malicious actors, and improving our geospatial intelligence and defensive capabilities.
She also discusses how the AI Tennessee Initiative aims to position the state of Tennessee as a national and global leader in the data-intensive knowledge economy. Dr. Parker addresses regional policy initiatives to ensure that AI benefits all Americans in areas such as jobs, healthcare, and education.