President Biden Issues Executive Order Concerning AI
The White House has released an executive order this week addressing AI with a
fact sheet detailing each action. While AI has been a sensation over these recent years, safety concerns have sprung up about the budding technology and its potential threat to the security and wellbeing of the American people. Let's take a look at the big actions in this executive order:
Security
Developers of AI must share their safety test results including rigorous red-team results (red-teams pretend to be a cyber threat in order to test security) that ensure the public safety of new AI before its release. Federal funding in the biological area will be contingent on establishing “strong new standards for biological synthesis screening” according to the order. There are also plans to develop an advanced cybersecurity program to handle vulnerabilities in new AI, and an order to develop a National Security Memorandum that further dictates actions on AI security. Security and safety was always the largest concern during AI discussions, so this being the first and most robust item on the list is expected.
Privacy
While AI is a fantastic time saver, its ability to complete hours of work in minutes makes it the perfect culprit for potential privacy and data violations. The White House has called for the accelerated development of new privacy-preserving techniques as well as strengthening their current ones. These
safeguards could involve practices such as limiting access to data to only authorized personnel and biometric or multi-factor authentication. Guidelines will be developed so that agencies can be evaluated on their effectiveness on preserving privacy. Best
practices for data handling and privacy include tactics such as making secure locations for data and making regular backups to ensure it can be recovered in the case of a breach or glitch. New privacy methods are needed to deal with AI and we have an unclear timeline for how long they will take to develop.
Responsible Government Use
It is easy to focus on how other countries and organizations may use AI, but a look at our own government is needed as well. Accelerating the rapid hiring of AI professionals was on the list of to dos, making sure that authorities on the subject are in a position to guide decision making and prevent misuse. AI products and services will be acquired through efficient contracting, and standards and guidance will be provided to government agencies to ensure the protection of rights and safety. While we saw a restricting of AI from the E.U, The U.S. seems to want to put safeguards in place for everything AI is capable of.
While much of this executive order is a promise to develop proper safety protocol, it is a step in the right direction. Marketers should look out for developing guidelines on AI and stay ethical in the meantime by
knowing the risks of AI!
We encourage you to check out the full
fact sheet, as there are many other important actions in the order such as education, workforce support, and civil rights.
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