Top CS conferences still have limited policy impact despite AI boom
RishiBommasani · x · 2026-07-23
Rishi Bommasani discusses a claim that one CS conference has had the most material impact on what policymakers think about AI.
- He agrees that the claim is probably right and says no other top CS venue has a stronger case.
- But he questions why that should be surprising, arguing it is almost a baseline expectation for a conference with that mission.
- He adds that most CS conferences do not collectively prioritize policy impact, and only a very small share of papers even mention policy in any substantive way.
- In his view, even after the post-ChatGPT bump, policy impact still seems limited relative to the size of the research community and the past decade of effort.
Related event: Scholars Debate FAccT's Substantial Impact on AI Policy(13 posts)→
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