Denver Mayor Mike Johnston will host a fireside chat Thursday, Sept. 19, about using artificial intelligence “for good.”
At his side will be Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn founder who was also Johnston’s largest campaign donor.
Hoffman spent a record-breaking $2 million to support Johnston's inaugural run for office last year. The spending mostly went through an independent group. Now, the two will promote a vision of artificial intelligence as a force for civic improvement, although the technology remains controversial. This will be the first time the two will make a public appearance together since the election.
The conversation will take place at the Colorado Convention Center, at the city’s sold-out inaugural Den AI Summit — a splashy new event underlining the mayor and the city’s interest in this technology. Also headlining the summit will be former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, the CEO of Promise, which makes AI tech for utilities.
The event’s boosters say it’s “the country’s first city-led conference focused on utilizing AI technology to solve hard social problems.”
Hoffman plans to tout how AI can “address the most pressing issues facing governments today,” according to the event website.
Governments around the world have begun to use forms of AI, including the generative AI technology that has appeared in products like ChatGPT. It could make local government more efficient by automating certain processes, or make information more accessible through tools like Denver’s new Sunny chatbot.
However, AI has drawn concerns about whether it might reinforce biases and treat some groups unfairly; whether it will intrude on individual privacy; how much energy it uses; and the question of just how much money tech companies stand to make from governments’ investments in AI.
The mayor’s office said Johnston and the city are participating in the conference because it has a worthy goal of finding good uses of the technology — not because of Johnston’s personal connections with Hoffman.
“Denver is home to some of the leading tech innovators in the country, particularly when it comes to AI, and Mayor Johnston and the city at large are proud to tap into that potential and help continue their growth,” texted Jordan Fuja, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office. “This conference is aimed at bringing those thought leaders together to discuss the opportunity to use AI for good, improving local government and residents’ lives.”
During the 2023 campaign, former Mayor Wellington Webb questioned the donations from Hoffman in support of Johnston. “How can Reid Hoffman be his best friend and the city's best friend too?” Webb asked last year. (Webb supported two of Johnston’s opponents.)
At the time, Hoffman said he was supporting Johnston because cities like Denver "are the places where creative entrepreneurs with political courage can develop and deploy big ideas that become proof points for the country."
Johnston said multiple times that major out-of-state donors like Hoffman did not ask anything of the campaign and would receive nothing in return. No city money has been spent on the upcoming AI conference, Fuja wrote. Speakers are not being compensated for participating. Hoffman is not doing any business with the city, Fuja added.
At this week's event, Hoffman will argue that AI can improve public services, transparency and inclusivity. Together, he and Johnston will talk about the ethics of AI and how the technology can be used equitably.
Other topics on the agenda: urban planning, public safety, social services and how AI can contribute to “smarter, fairer, and more responsive governments.” Meanwhile, the state of Colorado recently adopted a pioneering state law to regulate the use of AI, and launched a task force to examine the issue.
