The $15.7 Trillion Tightrope: We Must Navigate AI’s Promise and Peril for All Americans
Written by Mignon Clyburn, Former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States, & AICC Advisory Council Member
Artificial Intelligence isn’t just another tech trend; it’s a force that can either catapult us forward or leave us further divided. As AI hurtles towards adding $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, America faces a high-stakes balancing act. Will we harness this power for unprecedented shared prosperity, or become a cautionary tale of technological progress gone awry where too many are left behind?
Let’s be clear: the AI revolution will make no distinction between rural and urban folks, rich and poor, educated and not. It will impact every American life, right across our nation. And if we get it wrong — if we allow AI to concentrate wealth and opportunity at the top — the fallout will be measured not just in dollars lost, but in dreams deferred and potential squandered.
A 2022 study found that 62% of AI ethics researchers believe AI will increase inequality in the coming decade if we don’t act. With 19 million Americans still lacking broadband, predominantly in rural areas, and with too many low-income families cut off from the digital world, the stakes couldn’t be higher. We can either invest in a nationally connected AI ecosystem now, or pay a far higher price later in the form of a more fractured, unequal America.
At the same time, the opportunity to level-up our country is profound. Studies show AI-powered learning can boost student performance by 30%. In healthcare, AI telemedicine could save $17 billion annually while expanding access. By 2035, widespread AI adoption could increase labor productivity by 40%. These aren’t just numbers; they represent a chance to fundamentally redefine how progress works in our economy.
Imagine an America where your zip code doesn’t predetermine your educational opportunities, because AI has made world-class learning available to all. Where your health outcomes aren’t dictated by your income bracket, because AI has revolutionized healthcare access. Where your career prospects aren’t constrained by geographic constraints.
Getting there will require a dedicated, tireless effort — a giant mobilization of resources, energy, and will. The speed of AI’s advancement, the concentration of its development, and its potential to rewire our society at every level demand a uniquely urgent and comprehensive response.
Others have said it, but it’s true: We need a national mission for AI inclusion — a Manhattan Project-level commitment to ensuring that the benefits of AI reach every American. This means deep investment to connect everyone to affordable broadband service and to close the connectivity gap — once and for all. It means reinforcing and realigning our education system, with AI literacy as a core pillar. It means incentivizing AI companies to prioritize ethical training models as fiercely as they pursue profits and breakthroughs. And it means creating a robust social contract for the AI age — one that empowers workers and communities to thrive amid profound and lasting technological transformation.
None of this will be easy. It likely won’t be cheap, either. But the price of inaction is one we cannot afford to pay. If AI reinforces who consistently wins in our society, while leaving millions behind, we risk not just economic disruption, but a fundamental breakdown of our social fabric.
In a future where the American Dream is replaced by an AI American Divide, everyone pays a price.
But that’s not the future we have to choose. Throughout our history, Americans have turned periods of potential upheaval into opportunities for renewal and reinvention. Our national story has always been animated by moments of enormous effort and collective focus in the face of unbridled change.
From the New Deal and the social changes of the 1960s, to the rise of the Internet, we’ve consistently met the sharpness of the moment with investments in our people and our shared potential. AI presents a similar inflection point — perhaps, in many ways, one of the sharpest. And within that moment of uncertainty, a similar opportunity emerges: to reaffirm our commitment to collective progress and shared prosperity.
The choice is ours. We can let AI divide us, or we can get to work and harness its power to bring us together. We can watch from the sidelines as AI reshapes our world, or we can shape an AI future that reflects our highest aspirations and ideals — one where the benefits of progress are not just accessible, but ubiquitous.
In the age of artificial intelligence, the most intelligent choice we can make is to double down on our shared humanity — to build an America where innovation lifts up the many, not just the few; where technological progress goes hand-in-hand with social progress; and where we navigate the challenges of the future without losing sight of the values that have always guided us.
That’s the America we can build — if we’re willing to walk the trillion-dollar tightrope, together. The AI revolution is here. Let’s make sure it’s a revolution that leaves no American behind.
