Vice President Kamala Harris, like her boss President Joe Biden, has been in the news a lot lately for verbal gaffes, or “word salads.”
The conservative press has kept a hawk eye out for anything that could be perceived as a verbal slip-up, pouncing on every opportunity.
Sometimes, the verbal slip-ups are legitimte and worth amplifying. And sometimes, the slip-ups are pretty insignificant.
The latest, which falls into the latter category, comes from Harris’s attempt to explain artificial intelligence (AI) to a group of a labor and civil rights leaders.
Kamala Harris on AI
“I think the first part of this issue that should be articulated is AI is kind of a fancy thing,” Harris said. “First of all, it’s two letters. It means artificial intelligence, but ultimately what it is, is it’s about machine learning. And so, the machine is taught – and part of the issue here is what information is going into the machine that will then determine – and we can predict then, if we think about what information is going in, what then will be produced in terms of decisions and opinions that may be made through that process. So to reduce it down to its most simple point, this is part of the issue that we have here is thinking about what is going into a decision, and then whether that decision is actually legitimate and reflective of the needs and the life experiences of all the people.”
No, it’s not a great explanation about what AI is.
It’s not a Webster’s caliber definition.
It’s wordy and vague.
But it’s probably not worth holding up as hard evidence that the Vice President is incompetent.
The thing with AI is that you may understand what it is and how it works and what it means for society, and still struggle to define what AI is in layman terms.
Does Harris know what AI is? I have no idea.
Her answer suggests that she has at least a ballpark idea of what’s going on.
Better examples
If one were going to make the point that Harris is incompetent, using her public speaking as an example, I’d recommend starting elsewhere. Like her recent attempt to define culture for example.
“Culture is – it is a reflection of our moment and our time. Right? And present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment and we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment. That is a reflection of joy. Because you know…it comes in the morning. We have to find ways to express the way we feel about the moment in terms of just having language and a connection to how people are experiencing life. And I think about it in that way, too.”
Again, not a great answer. Kind of incoherent, actually. I’m sympathetic in that I suspect it’s harder to define “culture,” on the spot, with a national audience, then people probably realize. But still, I’m not exactly sure what Harris is talking about here.
There are a few other examples of Harris stumbling, too. Nothing as choice as her culture definition, but entertaining, nonetheless. Here’s a good one about space.
“Space is exciting, it spurs our imaginations. And it forces us to ask big questions. Space it affects us all. And it connects us all. There are so many opportunities in space for our country and for all of humanity.” That one is at least coherent, if not vapid and uninspired.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor and opinion writer at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
From 19FortyFive
Total Massacre’: Ukraine Footage Shows Russian Cruise Missile Shipment Attacked
Video – Ukraine Has Massive New NATO ‘Cannon’ Ready To Fight Russia
‘Americans Will Pay The Price’: One Democrat Is Angry At Joe Biden
