First Lady Melania Trump made a rare public appearance at the White House on Thursday, telling the crowd that "the robots are here" and that it is "our responsibility to prepare America's children" for the AI-driven decades ahead.
"Our future is no longer science fiction," she said. "During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children – empowering, but with watchful guidance."
The event - a meeting of a White House AI education task force established earlier this year - was one of so far only a handful of public events for a first lady who has proven both elusive and influential since her husband returned to the White House.
Born Melanija Knavs in Slovenia, the 55-year-old first lady and former fashion model was, for a time, often described as an "enigma" - less public than her predecessors, with fewer speeches and public engagements.
Her relative absence during long stretches of her husband's ultimately successful 2024 campaign even prompted a flurry of news articles with headlines asking "Where is Melania?".
