President Joe Biden convened a group of technology leaders to discuss artificial intelligence in San Francisco on Tuesday as his administration ramps up efforts to respond to the rapidly growing field.

“We will see more technological change in the next 10 years than we have seen in the last 50 years,” Biden said during brief remarks ahead of the conversation.  

California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined Biden on Tuesday for the meeting with eight technology experts, including the Center for Humane Technology’s Tristan Harris, Common Sense Media’s Jim Steyer and others at the Fairmont hotel.

“AI is already making it easier to search the internet, helping us drive to our destinations while avoiding traffic in real time, AI is going to change the way we teach, learn and help solve challenges like disease and climate change,” Biden said.

Recently, Biden has put increased attention on AI, which he said on Tuesday brings “enormous promise and risks.” The administration is working to figure out how to regulate the field while nurturing its potential.

“We have been having this conversation with policymakers for almost a decade now,” Dr. Brandie Nonnecke, director of the CITRIS Policy Lab headquartered at UC Berkeley and associate research professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy, said. “And so now, all of a sudden, because GPT-4 came out and Midjourney, these generative AI tools where the public could engage with them more, it’s raised more of this public awareness.”

Dr. Nonnecke and vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Daniel Castro point out the recent emergence of new AI tools such as ChatGPT and those mentioned by Dr. Nonneck have ramped up focus on the field. But the technologies and conversations around it are not new. “Let's not forget that we already have a lot of regulation on the books,” Castro said.

AI tools are able to craft human-like text, music, images and computer code. The technology could be used to replace workers, and it is already being used in false images and videos that some fear could become a vehicle of disinformation.

Dr. Nonneck said while the field does pose risks, some of the current narratives around the technologies can be harmful. She encourages people to think of the AI as what she calls “weak or narrow AI.”

“That's where the majority of AI applications are right now. So that's more like using types of statistical models, like regression analysis to identify correlations between variables, identify patterns in data,” she said.

“One of the biggest benefits is that people can converse with computers. You can interact with large scale information systems, very naturally, the way that you would converse with an individual,” Castro said. “And so the challenge is, how do we take those large language models, which give that conversing ability, and apply it in specific domains? Whether it's healthcare, education, financial services, the list goes on.”

In May, Biden met with tech CEOs at the White House to discuss AI and the topic played a large role in conversations between Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the pair’s recent meeting in Washington. The U.K. is preparing to host a summit on AI in the fall.  

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients’ office is developing a set of actions the federal government can take over the coming weeks regarding AI, according to the White House. Top officials are meeting two to three times each week on this issue, in addition to the daily work of federal agencies. The administration wants commitments from private companies to address the possible risks from AI.

Congress has also added urgency to the topic. In May, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI urged lawmakers to impose regulations while testifying to a Senate panel.

On Tuesday, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Ken Buck, R-Colo., introduced a bipartisan bill that would create a commission to discuss the current approach to AI, make recommendations moving forward and develop a response framework.

“I think there's a big learning curve right now for lawmakers and other policy officials who just need to understand what the technology can do and what it can't do,” Castro said. “And the problem is, we're still seeing major figures from the tech world and other areas put out these statements about AI being an existential threat to humanity and so it's hard to imagine that there can be reasonable policymaking when that's the backdrop.”

Earlier this month, lawmakers in Europe signed off on the world’s first set of comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence, one of the last steps before the rules become law.

Dr. Nonnecke said she believes regulation can help the industry, adding she does not like "the trope that regulation stifles innovation.”

“I think it's lazy and I think oftentimes, it's unfounded and not backed by research,” she said. “I would just say, alongside of that, regulation and legislation can create an enabling environment for better innovation, more creative innovation, more equitable innovation”

Biden is also in the San Francisco area to raise money for this 2024 reelection campaign. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.