Is It Riskier to Go Faster or Slower With A.I.? Regis Hosts Dialogue With Ben Buchanan ’08 and George Sivulka ’16

On Friday, Regis hosted a conversation on the future of A.I. featuring Ben Buchanan ’08 and George Sivulka ’16 as part of our Deo et Patriae Dialogues series. Taking opposing viewpoints on the best path forward, Buchanan and Sivulka engaged in a thoughtful discussion on the topic, “A.I.: Riskier to Go Faster or Go Slower?” Veteran journalist John Donvan ’73 served as the event's moderator.

As people grapple with the potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence, our panel considered how we as a society should proceed with this powerful technology. Pope Leo addressed these very questions last spring in his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, asking how we can safeguard the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. That concern invites us to consider both the pace of technological progress and the purposes it should serve.

Buchanan, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies who served from 2021 to 2025 as the Biden administration’s Special Advisor on Artificial Intelligence and as Director for Technology and National Security on the National Security Council, argued that proceeding faster with A.I. is the bigger risk.

"We should take a breath, claim our agency as humans here, develop this technology, but do so in a way that's safe and secure," said Buchanan, coauthor of the forthcoming book The Bitter Struggle: Superintelligence, Superpowers, and the Fate of the World.

Sivulka, the founder and CEO of Hebbia, a generative A.I. company whose tools help financial professionals analyze vast amounts of information and make investment decisions, argued that going slower with A.I. is the bigger risk.

"I would argue that you might regulate a bunch of smaller startups or smaller companies from speeding up or accelerating, but you're not going to regulate against China," said Sivulka, who also serves on the Regis Board of Trustees. "You're going to stop American companies because we'll have to comply to some extent. But it will not be equally distributed."

Buchanan and Sivulka also took part in a Q&A, answering thoughtful questions from students.

The event was the second installment of the Deo et Patriae Dialogues series, which brings diverse alumni speakers to Regis to further our devotion to Deo et Patriae and foster in our students a lifelong commitment to service as men for others. In the spring, Regis welcomed Rev. Gerry Murray Jr. ’76 and Phil Klay ’01 for a dialogue on whether the war in Iran is just according to the principles of Catholic Just War Theory.

During his introductory remarks on Friday, President Rev. Christopher Devron, SJ, said that dialogues like this invite us to examine disagreements, listen carefully, and test our own assumptions.

"We can disagree strongly with each other while treating one another with respect and learning from each other," said Fr. Devron.

You can watch the full Deo et Patriae Dialogue between Buchanan and Sivulka here: