Better Markets Launches People

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Better Markets announced today the launch of a people-centered AI agenda, a major initiative to ensure that the rapid spread of artificial intelligence across the economy and financial system strengthens the lives and livelihoods of Main Street workers, families, small businesses, and communities rather than concentrating gains at the top. The agenda is detailed in a new issue brief, “AI, the Economy, and You: A People-Centered AI Agenda,” and is led by Evan LeFlore, Better Markets’ inaugural Director of AI, Innovation, and Economic Opportunity.

“Better Markets’ AI agenda is built on a simple conviction: change is certain, but progress is not,” said Dennis Kelleher, Cofounder, President, and CEO of Better Markets. “AI-based systems are already becoming ingrained in various parts of society and will dramatically impact the economic and financial wellbeing of all Americans. Yet today, the development of these systems is driven largely by private corporations racing to be first and chasing short-term profits, often treating the public interest as an afterthought or an impediment to innovation. The aim of this agenda is straightforward: as AI reshapes American life, Main Street Americans must be kept at the center of the decisions around its development and implementation.

“Artificial intelligence is not primarily a technology story—it is a story about whether the lives of Americans get better or worse,” said Evan LeFlore, Director of AI, Innovation, and Economic Opportunity at Better Markets. “Done right, AI holds enormous promise for Main Street: it can expand access to affordable credit for the millions of Americans the current system has failed, reduce the human bias that has long shaped lending decisions, lower costs, raise productivity, create new opportunities, and even give everyday citizens powerful new tools to hold their government and financial institutions accountable. We want to see that future realized, but those gains will not materialize on their own. The people building and deploying this technology are warning us, in unusually blunt terms, to also prepare for serious disruption and downsides—including to the jobs Americans depend on, the fairness of who gets credit and on what terms, accountability when automated systems make life-altering decisions, and who ultimately bears the rising costs of AI’s buildout. Those focused on unfettered development and profit maximization have an army of lobbyists, PR specialists, and well-paid allies. The public largely does not. With like-minded people and organizations, we intend to make sure that Main Street’s concerns and priorities are heard and represented so that this extraordinary technology delivers progress for everyone, not just the few.”

Details on the pillars of Better Markets’ People-Centered AI Agenda can be found here.

Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.