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VP: US Agencies Must Be Clear on AI 03/28 06:26
(AP) -- U.S. federal agencies must show that their artificial intelligence
tools aren't harming the public, or stop using them, under new rules unveiled
by the White House on Thursday.
"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,"
Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters ahead of the announcement.
Each agency by December 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.
The new policy directive being issued to agency heads Thursday by the White
House's Office of Management and Budget is part of the more sweeping AI
executive order signed by President Joe Biden in October.
While Biden's broader order also attempts to safeguard the more advanced
commercial AI systems made by leading technology companies, such as those
powering generative AI chatbots, Thursday's directive targets AI tools that
government agencies have been using for years to help with decisions about
immigration, housing, child welfare and a range of other services.
As an example, Harris said, "If the Veterans Administration wants 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," according to a White House announcement.
The new policy also calls for two other "binding requirements," Harris said.
One is 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. The other is that each year, agencies must make public an
inventory of their AI systems that includes an assessment of the risks they
might pose.
Some rules exempt intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense, which
is having a separate debate about the use of autonomous weapons.
Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said
the new requirements are also meant to strengthen positive uses of AI by the
U.S. government.
"When used and overseen responsibly, AI can help agencies to reduce wait
times for critical government services, improve accuracy and expand access to
essential public services," Young said.
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