The Office of the President hosted a fireside chat with President Cindy Jebb and Retired Lieutenant General Mary A. Legere on Oct. 22. The discussion, “The Implications of Artificial Intelligence on Leadership and Democracy,” was hosted in the H-wing auditorium and was a part of Ramapo’s Presidential Speaker Series.
Legere is a former Senior Intelligence Officer for the United States Army and is currently working as managing director of Accenture Global Defense.
At the heart of the discussion, Jebb asked her friend and colleague questions about her time in the military, and how the age of AI might affect civic engagement and leadership.
“So, AI by its very nature is trying to help humans better … I think it is very much a humanity.”
“In the course of my life, being in a family of educators, I visited families that were in the military. I met professionals who were making careers,” said Legere about why she wanted to join the military and explore leadership roles, explaining that she was fascinated by their stories.
She went on to note that during her time in college she checked out the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps because of a leadership course and a national security course she was intrigued by. This is how Legere got her start in the United States military.
Jebb then asked Legere about what she thinks about artificial intelligence being described as a part of the humanities.
“As an liberal artist, I would simply say, AI is probably the uber humanity,” said Legere, going on to define AI as a “simulation of human processes by machines.”
“At its core … what these brilliant men and women are trying to do is to create a machine that can mimic the human process or experience so that mankind can be lifted to a next level path,” said Legere. “So, AI by its very nature is trying to help humans better … I think it is very much a humanity.”
Legere expresses that generative AI is important to the average citizen because “it speaks a language [we] can interact with.” Noting that AI is accessible now and specifically references Chat GPT as an example. She notes that AI is a powerful tool, and cites the cliche, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
“With the embrace of this technology by people who are not schooled in the biases and potential risks, we have to have a conversation that when you deploy generative, or AI of any kind, there needs to be human in the loops,” said Legere. “It is not the box running us, it is us using AI as an extension of ourselves. So it’s going to free us in some cases, but if we’re going to use it then I want a responsible AI governance to go along with that.”
Legere went on to discuss how some politicians plan to affect the outcome of the upcoming election through the use of misinformation and how AI is being used by some to alert us of misinformation and how others plan to use AI to divide and subvert us.
“Right now, we are in a war of ideas and information is a domain that has been organized,” said Legere. “In the United States and in other democracies we are organizing … to basically counter disinformation, to organize transnational organizations that help share and monitor and use AI to track [misinformation].”
Jebb ended the discussion by asking Legere about what things leaders can do to prepare and better prepare their organizations for the continued advancements in AI technology. Legere put emphasis on teaching people how to use AI responsibly, saying that leaders should embrace AI now before they fall behind as it is our future.
“AI requires a transformative mindset by leadership,” Said Lagere. “There is no way to opt-out of the age of AI.”
jhammer@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Jessica Hammer, Ramapo News
