White House Unveils AI Safety Guidelines

Facts

• US President Joe Biden Monday was set to sign an executive order regarding artificial intelligence (AI) safety to protect consumers, workers, and minority groups from the technology's related risks on Monday.¹
• The order, via the Defense Production Act, requires developers to submit the results of technology safety tests to the federal government, while the US Commerce Department will issue guidance concerning labeling and watermarking AI-generated content.²
• The order will further require AI models that pose a risk to national security, economic security, or public health to notify the federal government of its training, while also evaluating how agencies will collect and use personal data as well as commercially-available information.³
• The 'rigorous standards' that will need to be met will come under the supervision of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The agency will aim to ensure that grant applicants 'protect against the risks of using AI to engineer dangerous biological materials.'⁴
• The White House is also calling on Congress to take legislative action, according to a senior Biden administration official. The order will also call for guidance to landlords, federal benefits programs, and federal contractors 'to keep AI algorithms from being used to exacerbate discrimination.'¹
• This comes just days before US Vice President Kamala Harris is set to attend an AI summit in the UK hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. According to Bloomberg Government data, the Biden administration has committed $1.6B to AI for the 2023 fiscal year.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Independent, ³The Hill, ⁴Forbes and ⁵Bloomberg.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Wired. The US government is attempting to keep the commercial aspirations of AI in check while integrating its benefits into the Biden administration's federal agencies. The executive order rightfully acknowledges both the excitement and danger that AI is capable of globally, and — if successful — will mark the strongest governmental directive seen so far in the sector.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. Biden leading the fight for AI ethics is like a liberal, multinational corporation controlling what election-related information the public is allowed to see. The most powerful aspect of AI is its information control, which the Democrats were lucky enough to have on their side during the 2020 election. If social media platformers were able to sway large swaths of undecided voters in Biden's direction, what do you think this corporate-government partnership will do next as the technology it controls grows stronger?

Predictions