Vice President, Kamala Harris, told reporters recently that the US federal agencies must show that their artificial intelligence tools aren’t harming the public, or stop using them, per a new policy unveiled by the White House.
“When government agencies use AI tools, we will now require them to verify that those tools do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people,” stated Harris.
By December, each agency must have a set of concrete safeguards that guide everything from facial recognition screenings at airports to AI tools that help control the electric grid or determine mortgages and home insurance.
Numerous civil rights groups applauded these developments, some of which have spent years pushing federal and local law enforcement agencies to reduce the use of facial recognition, as well as wrongful arrests of Black men.
A September report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office reviewed several federal law agencies, including the FBI, and found that in over 60,000 searches using face-scanning technology, the staff were not trained on how the technology works nor how to interpret results.
This new policy directive issued to agency heads also aligns with the sweeping AI executive order announced by President Joe Biden in October 2023.
This new policy directive issued to agency heads also aligns with the sweeping AI executive order announced by President Joe Biden in October 2023.
This recent directive creates a catalyst for government agencies that have been using antiquated AI tools to help with decisions on immigration, housing, child welfare, and a range of other services.
As an example, Harris said, “If the Veterans Administration want to use AI in VA hospitals to help doctors diagnose patients, they would first have to demonstrate that AI does not produce racially biased diagnoses.” Agencies that can’t apply the safeguards “must cease using the AI system, unless agency leadership justifies why doing so would increase risks to safety or rights overall or would create an unacceptable impediment to critical agency operations,” the White House announcement explained.
In addition, the new policy states that federal agencies must hire a chief AI officer with the “experience, expertise and authority” to oversee all of the AI technologies used by that agency, she said.
Under the new rules, they must also form AI governance boards and turn in yearly reports, which will be published online. The reports will outline the AI systems in use, identify their risks, and detail plans for tackling those risks.
“Leaders from governments, civil society, and the private sector have a moral, ethical, and societal duty to make sure that artificial intelligence is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm while ensuring everyone can enjoy its full benefit,” Harris stated. She also said the Biden administration intends for the policies to serve as a global model.
In related news, the Department of Homeland Security announced last week it’s expanding its use of AI to train immigration officers, protect critical infrastructure, and pursue drug and child exploitation investigations.
These announcements are demonstrations of advancing greater guard rails on AI usage, and increasing privacy and security safety for the general public.
However positive these developments are, the US government must accelerate the new legislation that sets the ground rules for the AI industry. This is the most critical move as it is not anticipated that the new laws will be in place until 2025.
These recent White House announcements align with the European Union’s AI Act, with the distinct difference that the European Union has already given its final approval to a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence law, leapfrogging the US on AI regulation.
