President Joe Biden has issued an unprecedented executive order on artificial intelligence, marking the U.S. government’s first significant move in this arena. The order mandates various measures such as new safety assessments, guidelines for equity and civil rights, and research on AI’s impact on the labor market.
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Law enforcement agencies have expressed their readiness to enforce existing laws against AI abuses, while Congress has been actively seeking to comprehend the technology for the purpose of drafting new legislation. However, the executive order is expected to have a more immediate impact, given its legal weight as emphasized by a senior administration official during a press call on Sunday.
Biden
Establishing new safety and security standards for AI, including mandatory sharing of safety test results with the federal government by some AI companies, guidance creation for AI watermarking by the Commerce Department, and the establishment of a cybersecurity program for identifying flaws in critical software using AI tools.
Ensuring consumer privacy by providing guidelines for evaluating AI-based privacy techniques for use by various agencies.
Promoting equity and civil rights by offering guidance to landlords and federal contractors to prevent AI algorithms from perpetuating discrimination and developing best practices for the appropriate use of AI in the justice system, including sentencing, risk assessments, and crime forecasting.
Safeguarding consumers by directing the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate potentially harmful AI-related healthcare practices and providing resources for responsible use of AI tools in education.
Supporting workers by studying the implications of AI on the labor market and exploring ways for the federal government to assist workers affected by market disruptions.
Fostering innovation and competition by expanding AI research grants in critical areas like climate change and updating criteria for highly skilled immigrant workers to remain in the U.S.
Collaborating with international partners to implement global AI standards.Creating guidelines for federal agencies’ use and procurement of AI and expediting the hiring of AI-skilled workers within the government.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed hailed the order as the most comprehensive set of actions taken by any government on AI safety, security, and trust. It builds on voluntary commitments secured from leading AI companies and stands as the primary binding government action on the technology to date. This development comes ahead of an AI safety summit scheduled by the U.K.
The Biden senior administration official emphasized that although 15 major American technology companies have committed to voluntary AI safety standards, more concrete regulation is needed, and the executive order is a significant step in this direction. The official highlighted President Biden’s directive to use all available resources to manage AI risks and maximize its benefits.
The executive order mandates that large companies share safety test results with the U.S. government before the official launch of AI systems. It prioritizes the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s development of standards for stress-testing the defenses and potential vulnerabilities within AI systems, commonly known as “red-teaming.” Additionally, the Department of Commerce will develop standards for watermarking AI-generated content.
The order also addresses the issue of training data for large AI systems and emphasizes the evaluation of how agencies collect and use commercially available data, particularly data involving personal identifiers, including those purchased from data brokers.
Furthermore, the Biden administration is taking steps to strengthen the AI workforce by facilitating relevant job openings for workers with AI expertise within the federal government, as announced by the senior administration official.
Regarding the timeline for implementation, the official mentioned that some safety and security aspects of the order aim for a 90-day turnaround, while other aspects might take closer to a year.
This Biden executive order follows a series of actions taken by the White House in recent months to create platforms for discussions on the pace of AI development and proposed guidelines. Notably, concerns about the widespread adoption of generative AI have emerged, including public concerns, legal disputes, and queries from lawmakers. Instances include the integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft’s Bing search engine, which received criticism for promoting toxic speech, and the scrutiny of popular AI image generators for propagating racial bias and stereotypes.
In line with this, the executive order directs the Department of Justice and other federal offices to establish standards for investigating and prosecuting AI-related civil rights violations. It also stipulates that clear guidance must be provided to landlords, federal benefit programs, and federal contractors to prevent the use of AI algorithms exacerbating discrimination.
Earlier in the year, the White House initiated a competition at Def Con, where thousands of hackers and security researchers were challenged to outsmart top generative AI models from leading companies such as OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Nvidia. This event represented the first-ever public assessment of multiple language models, as stated by a representative from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the event.
Furthermore, the White House held a meeting in July with seven top AI companies, including Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, Anthropic, Inflection, and Meta, where each company agreed to voluntary commitments in developing AI. These commitments included allowing independent experts to assess tools before their public debut, researching societal risks related to AI, and enabling third parties to test for system vulnerabilities, as demonstrated in the Def Con competition.
In conclusion, President Biden’s executive order signifies a significant step in the regulation and management of AI, addressing various concerns related to safety, security, equity, and civil rights. It serves as a proactive measure to ensure the responsible and ethical development and deployment of AI technologies, safeguarding the interests of both consumers and workers.
