WASHINGTON (AP) — president joe biden On Monday, artificial intelligence — Requires industry to develop safety and security standards, introduces new consumer protections and gives federal agencies an extensive to-do list to oversee rapidly advancing technology.
The order reflects the government’s efforts to shape the evolution of AI in ways that maximize its potential and contain its risks. AI is deep personal interest For Biden, it could have economic and national security implications.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients recalled that Biden made technology a top priority and directed his staff to tackle the issue with urgency.
Zients said he was told by the Democratic president that “we can’t move forward at the pace of normal government.” “We have to move as fast, if not faster, than the technology itself.”
In Biden’s view, the government has been slow to respond to the risks of social media, and America’s young people are now grappling with related mental health issues. AI has benefits such as accelerating cancer research, modeling the effects of climate change, increasing economic output, and improving government services.But it can also distort fundamental concepts of truth with a false imagedeepens racial and social inequality, and provides tools for fraudsters and criminals.
order is built on it Voluntary efforts It’s already being made by technology companies. This is part of a broader strategy that administration officials say also includes Congressional legislation and international diplomacy, and has already been triggered by the introduction of new AI tools such as ChatGPT, which can generate new text, images and audio. This is a sign of confusion.
The order uses the Defense Production Act to require major AI developers to share safety test results and other information with the government. The National Institute of Standards and Technology will create standards to ensure the safety of AI tools before they are released to the public.
The Department of Commerce plans to issue guidance for labeling and watermarking AI-generated content to help distinguish between genuine interactions and those generated by software. The order also touches on privacy, civil rights, consumer protection, scientific research, and labor rights issues.
Government officials who previewed the order on a conference call with reporters Sunday said the to-do list included in the order will be implemented and implemented over a period of 90 to 365 days, and includes items related to safety and security. said it faces the earliest deadline. The officials briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, as requested by the White House.
Last Thursday, Biden gathered his aides in the Oval Office to review and finalize executive orders, despite other pressing issues such as the Maine shooting, the Israel-Hamas war, and the presidential election. The 30-minute meeting lasted 70 minutes. New Speaker of the House.
Mr. Biden expressed a strong curiosity about technology during meetings in the months leading up to the drafting of the order. His Scientific Advisory Board focused on AI in his two meetings, and his Cabinet discussed AI in his two meetings. The president also pressed technology executives and civil society advocates about the capabilities of technology at multiple rallies.
“He was as impressed and alarmed as anyone,” Bruce Reed, the president’s deputy chief of staff, said in an interview. “He saw fake AI images of himself and his dog. He saw how that produced bad poetry. And he saw a fake AI image of himself and his dog. I have seen and heard an incredibly terrifying technology called voice cloning, which can transform people into people.
Given the possibility of fake images and audio, the president has made it a priority to label and watermark anything generated by AI. Biden also wanted to stop the risk of elderly Americans receiving phone calls from people who appear to be their loved ones and ultimately being fooled by AI tools.
Meetings are likely to be held over schedule, with Mr. Biden telling civil society advocates in the ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco in June: Take as much time as you need. ”
The President also spoke with scientists to understand the benefits that can be created when AI is used for good. He listened to a Nobel Prize-winning physicist talk about how AI could explain the origin of the universe. Another scientist showed how extreme weather events, such as once-in-a-century floods, can be modeled. Historical data used to assess these phenomena are becoming less accurate due to climate change.
The issue of AI seemed inevitable for Biden. One weekend at Camp David, I relaxed and watched the Tom Cruise movie “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1.” The film’s villain is an intelligent, rogue AI known as “The Entity” who sinks a submarine and kills its crew in the first few minutes of the film.
“If he wasn’t worried about what would happen with AI before watching that movie, he probably had a lot more to worry about,” said Reid, who watched the movie with the president.
with parliament still in early stages As countries around the world race to establish AI safeguards, President Biden’s order challenges the U.S. perspective own guidelines.
After more than two years of consideration, the European Union is putting the final touches on it. Comprehensive set of regulations Targeting the technology’s most risky applications. China, the United States’ main rival in AI, also has some rules in place.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also hopes to highlight the UK’s important role as an AI safety hub at a summit hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris this week. Participation plan. And on Monday, officials from seven major developed countries agreed to a set of AI safety principles and a voluntary code of conduct for AI developers.
The United States, particularly the West Coast, is home to many of the leading developers of cutting-edge AI technology, including tech giants Google, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as AI-focused startups such as OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT. I am. Earlier this year, the White House used its industry weight to secure commitments from these companies to introduce safety mechanisms when building new AI models.
But the White House also faced significant pressure from Democratic allies, including labor and civil rights groups, to ensure policy reflected concerns about AI’s real-world harm.
The American Civil Liberties Union wants to “ensure the tech industry and tech billionaires are held accountable” so that algorithmic tools “work for all of us, not just a few.” He said it was one of the groups that had met with the White House. said Renica Moore, director of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program.
Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a former Biden administration official who helped develop the principles for approaching AI, said one of the biggest challenges within the federal government is the use of AI tools by law enforcement, including at the U.S. border. The question is what to do about it.
“These are all places where the use of automation, such as facial recognition and drone technology, has proven to be very problematic,” Venkatasubramanian said. The performance of facial recognition technology has been shown to be uneven across racial groups; leading to mistaken arrest.
Alexandra Rees-Givens, a digital rights advocate and director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the Biden administration has warned of new risks from new AI systems and that “AI systems are already impacting people’s rights.” He said he is happy to focus on both in many ways. Workplace, housing, education, managing government benefits, and more.