Big tech's rise to stock market leadership over the last year has largely been driven by AI. However, crackdowns and regulations are on the way, with states like Utah and California at the front of the push to regulate the technology. Appian (APPN) CEO Matt Calkins joins Asking for a Trend to discuss the future of AI in the US.

"The regulation is piecemeal. And we would do a lot better in this industry if we were able to centralize that and create a universal expectation for what's fair and what customers can expect from AI," Calkins says. He explains that while regulation is going in the right direction, the federal government should take a broader approach:

"AI regulation today is based on fear. It's based on the things that the public is afraid of and the governments therefore feel motivated to make a rule against. And that's healthy, but sometimes the public imagination doesn't stretch far enough. We've got regulations today from Europe to the United States about what AI can do, the things that we're worried about AI will do in its actions. And that's different from the injustice that can occur merely by creating AI, the injustice that can occur from taking data from people who didn't mean to give their data."

Thus, he sees two primary areas where AI has the potential to do damage. He sees the first issue in actions AI should not have taken and end up causing injury. The second issue concerns the way AI is composed and trained, where it could potentially step on property rights. He notes that in this current moment, these issues are being taken up by courts because there is no clear legislation. He adds that many politicians have dragged their feet on the issue because "they don't understand this technology and they're worried about making the wrong move."

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This post was written by Melanie Riehl