Biden Combats AI Advances with New Executive Order
Steve johnson
On October 30, President Biden signed the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. It was created to build on previous actions that President Biden has taken in regards to Artificial Intelligence alongside 15 companies volunteering their services in regards to Artificial Intelligence.
Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and other tech firms have already agreed to follow the safety regulations that the White House set in the Executive Order. The companies are important because they are currently the ones leading the Artificial Intelligence progress of developing new technology.
“AI is all around us,” Biden said before signing the order, “To realize the promise of AI and avoid the risk, we need to govern this technology.”
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients explains that Biden believes the United States cannot act at a normal governmental pace. Laws regulating AI technology need to be moving as fast but preferably faster than AI.
“He saw fake AI images of himself, of his dog. He saw how it can make bad poetry. And he’s seen and heard the incredible and terrifying technology of voice cloning, which can take three seconds of your voice and turn it into an entire fake conversation,” White House chief of staff Bruce Reed states.
Biden has learned from how the government handled regulating social media. He believes that the government did not regulate fast enough causing there to be mental health issues in the youth in the United States. He has made the decision to be ahead of AI due to his viewpoints on this.
The guidance within the Executive Order will be implemented and completed over the range of 90 days to 365 days.
The Executive Order
The order is intended to create safety standards with the intent to protect the privacy of citizens, advance AI in an equitable way in regards to civil rights, stand up for consumers and workers, and promote innovation and competition. The Executive Order wants to grow the leadership of the United States around the world in regards to Artificial Intelligence protections and advancements.
The Executive Order directs the following actions from the complying companies:
Safety and Security -
All developers and companies working with the most powerful systems of AI must share safety test results and other related and critical information to the United States government. Any AI model that poses a threat to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety are required to communicate these with the government during the tests and well before the technology is in the hands of the public.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has been tasked with creating standards that the AI technology needs to pass before it can be released to the public. The Department of Homeland Security has been tasked to take the standards created by them and apply them to critical infrastructure sectors in order to create the AI Safety and Security Board.
The Departments of Energy and Homeland Security will address the threat in how it relates to infrastructure, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and cybersecurity.
Agencies that fund life-science projects have been tasked with creating incentives that ensure proper screening of AI technology.
The Department of Commerce will develop a strategy and way to create watermarking for AI-generated content. Federal agencies are asked to use these tools to protect Americans from fraud and deception and make it easier for those to feel safe in knowing what they are consuming is legitimate.
Building on the previously created AI Cyber Challenge, the Executive Order wishes to develop tools to make software and networks more secure from AI and other cyber issues.
The National Security Council and White House Chief of Staff will develop a National Security Memorandum intended to direct further actions with AI. This is a way to ensure that AI is used ethically, safely, effectively in missions, and will direct actions to counter adversaries’ military use of AI by the United States military and intelligence community.
Protecting Americans’ Privacy -
The Executive Order makes a plan to accelerate the use and development of privacy-preserving techniques by prioritizing federal support.
There is excess emphasis on strengthening privacy-preserving research and technologies. This will be done through funding a Research Coordination Network while the The National Science Foundation works to promote the adoption of leading-edge privacy-preserving technologies by federal agencies.
There will be focus on evaluating how agencies collect and use commercially available information in hopes of strengthening privacy guidance for federal agencies to take account for risks made by AI.
There will be new guidelines developed to evaluate the effectiveness of preserving the privacy of consumers for AI by federal agencies.
Advancing Equity and Civil Rights -
If used responsibly, AI can cause worse discrimination, bias, and other abuses in justice, healthcare, and housing issues. In the Executive Order, President Biden added that there will be clear guidance for landlords, federal benefits programs, and federal contractors that AI must not be used in relation to discrimination.
Through coordination between the Department of Justice and Federal civil rights offices, they will be trained in technical assistance, and coordination on how to best investigate and prosecute civil rights violations when it comes to AI.
In order to ensure fairness in the criminal justice system, AI will be developed to be used in sentencing, parole and probation, pretrial release and detention, risk assessments, surveillance, crime forecasting and predictive policing, and forensic analysis.
Standing Up for Consumers, Patients, and Students -
Even though AI can make better, cheaper, and more widely available products, it can also create a risk of injuring, misleading, or otherwise harming Americans.
There will be advancements in AI responsibilities when it comes to healthcare and the development of affordable and life-saving drugs. The Department of Health and Human Services will be in charge of establishing safety programs to receive reports of and to take care of harmful or unsafe care involving AI.
Strengthen the American education system by creating resources and support for teachers by providing AI-education tools.
Supporting Workers -
AI has been changing the workplace in America by improving productivity but also has the risk of increased workplace surveillance, bias, and job displacement.
In order to combat this, there will be principles and best practices developed to maximize the benefits for workers with AI and to minimize the harms of AI working alongside workers. These principles should provide guidance to employers about properly compensating workers, how to fairly evaluate a job application, and affecting how a worker organizes.
Produce a report with the in-depth idea of AI’s potential labor-market impacts, study and identify options for strengthening federal support for workers facing labor disruptions, including from AI.
Promoting Innovation and Competition -
To ensure that the United States continues to lead in innovation and competition when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, there is a section in the Executive Order about this.
National AI Research Resource will have a pilot that will provide a tool for AI researchers and students to unlock key data. They will also expand the grants for AI research in areas such as healthcare and climate change that are considered vital.
Small developers and entrepreneurs will be provided with access to technical assistance and resources, to encourage small businesses to be able to commercialize with every AI breakthrough. The Federal Trade Commission is also encouraged to exercise their authority in this regard.
Expand the ability of immigrants and nonimmigrants that are considered highly skilled and hold expertise in critical areas of study to work and stay in the United States. In order to do this, VISA criteria, interviews, and reviews will be reviewed and modernized.
Advancing American Leadership Abroad -
The State Department and the Commerce Department will lead a joint effort in order to establish strong international frameworks to use AI’s benefits, manage its risks, and to ensure everyone's safety.
Increase development and implementation with international partners and in standards organizations to ensure that the AI technology is safe, secure, trustworthy, and able to be used.
Promote the safe, responsible, and rights-affirming development usage of AI when it comes to solving global challenges.
Ensuring Responsible and Effective Government Use of AI -
AI can be used to better the lives of the American people, it has the ability to regulate, govern, and disburse benefits, and it can cut costs and enhance the security of government systems. There is a risk of the possibilities of negatively affecting the lives of the American people such as with discrimination and unsafe decisions
There will be guidelines issued for all agencies that are involved with AI. These will be clear on standards of how to properly handle AI as well as how to protect the rights and safety of their organization and workers, improve AI procurement, and strengthen AI deployment.
There will be help provided to agencies to receive proper AI products and services at faster rates, cheaper rates, and more effectively.
Office of Personnel Management, U.S. Digital Service, U.S. Digital Corps, and Presidential Innovation Fellowship will lead the rapid hiring of AI professionals as well as provide training for employees in positions where it is relevant.
The Executive Order was a result of the Biden Administration communicating with other nations and countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, the UAE, and the UK.
The Executive Order also complements and supports Japan’s leadership of the G-7 Hiroshima Process, the UK Summit on AI Safety, India’s leadership as Chair of the Global Partnership on AI, and ongoing discussions at the United Nations.