American Leaders Have Lost Their Commitment to Mutual Consent
Ronald Reagan knew leadership required mutual consent.
Photographer: Michael Evans/the White House/Getty Images
American companies lead the world in AI. Yet Americans are the developed world’s most AI-skeptical population. Pew Research found that 50% of US adults are more concerned than excited about AI, compared with a global median of 34%. According to Quinnipiac, only 5% of Americans believe AI is being developed by people who represent their interests. This isn’t about technology – it’s about leadership. And if it isn’t solved, it will cripple everyone who needs public trust.
To an extent very few appreciated, American institutions, both in government and business, were long governed by mutual consent. The elites who led them essentially agreed to abide by shared rules and standards, even when they weren’t encoded in law.