
Joe Biden Signs Executive Order to Increase AI Regulation
By Movieguide® Contributor
President Joe Biden issued a landmark executive order aimed at AI to help promote the safe development of the technology and keep the government informed on the risks it poses to the American people.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed called the executive order the strongest action “any government in the world has ever taken on AI safety, security, and trust. It’s the next step in an aggressive strategy to do everything on all fronts to harness the benefits of AI and mitigate the risks.”
The executive order outlines safeguards to protect against widespread AI-generated deepfakes, monitor the technology’s ability to impact critical infrastructure, shield workers from job displacement and guide the sustainable development of the technology.
Among the government’s top concerns about the technology is the creation of widespread deepfakes to spread misinformation. To address this, the order directs the Department of Commerce to create standards for authenticating and distributing government statements.
“Federal agencies will use these tools to make it easy for Americans to know that the communications they receive from the government are authentic – and set an example for the private sector and governments around the world,” the White House said.
As for keeping the technology safe for commercial use, the order directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to set rigorous standards for “red-team” testing.
The Verge added, “The Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security are directed to address the potential threat of AI to infrastructure and the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and cybersecurity risks. Developers of large AI models like OpenAI ‘s GPT and Meta’s Llama 2 are required to share safety test results.”
To address the concerns of workers who fear for their job security due to the emerging technology, Biden’s order pushes for the technology to be used to improve existing jobs rather than replace them. However, understanding that this is not possible in every case, it also calls for a report on jobs at risk of being replaced to better understand the workers who will need more support in the near future.
The order also seeks to promote competition in the field by assisting smaller, independent researchers, developers and entrepreneurs, as well as establishing a national database for AI research. Furthermore, the order streamlines the immigration process for those with AI expertise.
This landmark executive order is largely a result of a conference held this summer during which top researchers and developers in the AI field explained the technology to Congress and other high-ranking U.S. offices. During these meetings, the AI experts explained the strengths of the technology, its future, and the worries that they had about AI.
Movieguide® previously reported:
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared before Congress earlier this week alongside other leaders in AI to advise lawmakers on the regulation of AI technologies.
Altman believes that the current tech boom has the potential to be a “printing press moment” forever changing human life. However, he recognizes the risks of the current approach to innovation in the tech industry and is encouraging lawmakers to regulate the boom.
“We think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models,” Altman said in his opening remarks.
IBM’s vice president, Christina Montgomery, also appeared before Congress warning against Silicon Valley’s longstanding mantra of ‘move fast and break things.’